Vengeance
by wildblessedfreedom
Summary: When Quinn,Santana,Brittany,Finn,Puck and Mike are targeted in a sinister hostage situation at McKinley, it's up to them to not only find their friends, but discover the reason that they're being targeted. Full Summary inside. Warnings: Shooting/Hostage.
1. Prologue

_So, I've been wanting to write a Glee Shooting/Hostage/Suspense fiction for a while now- I'm a sucker for action stories. Those of you who have read my other story (That is currently on Hiatus) 'Death and All It's Friends' will probably notice similarities between this story and that one. Though you'll be happy to know, this one won't be going on hiatus at any point, even if I have writers block, because- I've already written all the chapters! I'll upload one everytime I get the opportunity, so this should mean quicker updates._

_Okay. Enough Rambling. The story takes place sometime after the Superbowl episode, HOWEVER no spoilers that could shape the show's characters are included (IE, the Fuinn kiss or Finchel being reunited.)_

_Main Characters: __Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Puck, Finn and Mike. A little bit of Rachel and other characters at some points throughout the story._

_Pairings: __It's not really a shipper story, but there'll be hints of- Quinn/Puck, Quinn/Mike, Santana/Finn, Brittany/Artie. While I think of Brittana as very close friends, feel free to take my writing as romance between the two! As I said though, It's not really too focused on these pairings, so don't let any you don't like put you off this story _

_Summary: __I really suck at these, but it's basically: When Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Finn, Puck and Mike become the targets of a sinister hostage plan in the school, it's up to them to find out not only where their friends are, but find out the real reason why they've been targeted in the first place._

_Themes: __Mainly suspense and friendship, with underlying darkness, romance and angst. _

* * *

'_Okay, I'm in. South entrance by the parking lot. Where are you?'_

'_By the Science labs and Sport Department- the other two are covering the North and East entrances.'_

'Artie!'

Artie turned from his locker and smiled instinctively as Brittany hurried up to him, books hugged to her chest (none of which, he knew, were schoolbooks and just notepads with her doodles in) and blonde ponytail swishing behind her. The others had been right all those months before he got to know Brittany- her smile really was infectious.

'Hey Brit- did you remember to match them..' He trailed off, his smile widening as she gave a proud smile and leant down towards him so that he could see that she'd managed to match her earrings for once. 'Awesome.' He told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she plonked herself down onto his lap and he began to wheel towards his first class.

'So.' She began to play with the collar of his shirt, 'Me and my parents were talking about you last night..'

'Oh?'

Brittany looked at him blankly, and Artie sighed. 'Continue.'

'Oh okay. Anyway, they want you to come over for dinner this Friday. I was thinking either hot dogs or meatballs.' She gave a thoughtful smile, looking up at Artie expectantly as he stopped, worry evident on his face. He gave it some thought, staring into his lap- he'd never been good with parents- hell, his humour hadn't impressed Tina's stubborn parents- but looking at Brittany's carefree face at that minute, how hard could her parents be to impress?

'Sure, why not?'

'_Just saw that wheelchair kid and that blonde cheerleader-'_

'_Are you kidding me? They're not supposed to be able to see you-'_

'_Relax, relax! I'm hidden, only one person kind of saw me, and he ran off after I threatened to break his mic and camera. I don't think he was particularly interested in anything other than giving me an interview as to why I'm wearing a balacla-'_

'_Hold up, I think- yep that's definitely him coming out of Science 1.'_

'_Which one?'_

'Stupid fucking teacher, who _calls _someone's house at like 9 in the morning to make sure a student stops by to receive a _detention _slip before classes? I'll tell you who, Mrs fucking Adams-'

'Relax Puck_zilla, _live true to your name and quit being so whiney.' Santana snapped back, glaring at a freshman that ran past her and almost toppled into her as Puck pouted. 'What did you do anyway?' She queried, leading him over to her locker as they stopped so she could put her Cheerios duffle bag away. They'd both had early Cheerios/Football practice and had bumped into eachother on the way back to classes. Not that they had anyone else apart from teammates they weren't really friends with to hang out with anyway. As suckish as it was, all their other friends were too loved up to give a crap about them, by the looks of it.

'A petty reason for a detention, it just involved a fire extinguish and Jeffrey's glasses-' Puck cut off then, glaring harshly at the other side of the hall as Santana looked up at him curiously, taking in his frown and set jaw before looking to see what he was staring at.

'What are you-' It didn't take Santana long to spot Sam and Quinn down the hallway, completely oblivious to anyone else as Sam's hands wandered over Quinn's sides lazily and her arms wound themselves around his neck, giving eachother the gooey eyes as they did so. Santana rolled her eyes almost reflexively- so freakin cheesy. As if early stage Quinn and Finn hadn't been bad enough...

'Give it up, Puck.' She told him sternly, whacking his shoulder slightly as he tore his eyes away, his jaw unclenching before clenching again. 'She's with Sam now.' _Not that that's ever stopped either one of us. _She added silently.

'All's fair in love and war.' Puck told her coolly, before turning to smirk slightly at her. 'And if you wanna talk about going after what you _can't have, _stick around, I'm sure Finnocence will be passing by his locker sometime soo-'

'_Seriously? Where is he now?'_

'_Just outside S6, that Latina girl's hitting him with a book.'_

'_Excellent, so our numbers are up to 3 out of-'_

'_Hold that thought, got a call on the other line.'_

'You wanted to see me Mr Schue?'

'Hey Finn, I just wanted a quick word.' Mr Schue put down his sheet music on the piano and turned to Finn, who stood there quite awkwardly.

'Sure..'

Mr Schue paused, trying to judge Finn's face. He'd known these kids for over a year now, but when he wanted to give them some advice, he never knew quite how to go about it. 'How are things with you and Rachel?'

Finn sighed slightly, his shoulders drooping as he gave the question some deep thought. 'I...don't know.' He answered uncertainly. 'I mean...we're not- we're not together, but it's as if she thinks we will be in the end.' He suddenly looked at Mr Schue, who cleared his throat, realising he was asking for some guidance.

'But you're not sure...?'

'Kinda. I mean, I love Rachel, but...it doesn't mean we work out, y'know, it's not as simple as it should be. And somehow I don't _want _to work to keep us together. I'm okay now, I- I feel like I need to just be _me _for a bit, not Finn and Rachel.' He answered finally, before looking between Mr Schue and the floor awkwardly as the first one nodded sympathetically. 'Sorry for springing this on you, Mr Schue, I-'

'No no it's fine Finn. You guys all need someone to talk to sometimes, and I noticed you're a little distant lately. I just wanted to make sure everything's okay.' He clapped Finn on the shoulder and the boy grinned crookedly- he really needed someone to talk to about these things sometimes.

'Thanks again Mr Schue.'

'_Hey- okay, that tall kid you were on about just went into the choir room, I think Schuester's in there too.'_

'_Damnit! We can't go on with the plan if he's with a teacher. Okay...where's Damien?'_

'_He's near the cafeteria, and this'll cheer you up- he's got _two _of them in viewing range.'_

'Ergh I'm sick of this Tina! Nothing is _ever _good enough-'

'Oh don't start this again, you sound like Artie-' Tina told him bitterly, folding her arms as Mike threw his hands up in the air, raising his voice as a startled freshman besides them jumped.

'Oh great, we're back to Artie! Seriously T, when is this about _us _instead of him? I like Artie, but this is just-'

'Just what? If you're saying I still have feelings for him, you couldn't be more wrong-' Tina snapped at him, _sick _of him accusing her of still loving her ex boyfriend.

'I'm not- I mean- GOD I can't do this anymore T!' Mike shouted out as random passerby's started to take interest at the Asian couple.

'Do what?' Tina asked carefully, lowering her voice.

'This, _us_! I can't take the pressure, how you're always going on at me for everything, I mean when was the last time we actually had a talk and a _laugh _together?'

When Tina didn't answer, Mike sighed, bowing his head as he spoke the next part. 'I'm sorry Tina, just- I can't do this. I gotta go.' He told her coolly before turning in the other direction, needing to just get away from it all, ignoring her calls behind him.

'Mike-'

'_So we have the fifth, excellent. Keep an eye on the last, will you? We don't need one of 'em slipping away when the game hasn't even started yet.'_

'_On it ma'am.'_

'I'll see you later?'

'See you later Sam.' Quinn told him firmly as he gave her another kiss before turning away, meeting up with a few other jocks down the hall. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief once he'd gone.

She liked Sam. She really did. At first he'd been a fresh start, a popularity boost- but somewhere along the way she'd begun to actually _care _about them, and had fallen for him ever so slightly. The scary thing? She knew it wouldn't last. She had no hope- it was like as soon as he'd put that promise ring on her finger, he'd given them a death sentence.

The clock was ticking, and the fact that he claimed to be in _love _with her and she was battling feelings for _other people _made it all the more worse.

Sighing and turning to walk towards the cafeteria where she was due to meet Mercedes, a lone figure leaning against a broom cupboard caught her eye.

'Mike?' She called curiously, walking towards him- she'd always had a soft spot for the boy after being in the same Friendship circle for years. He'd even been the first boy to give her a Valentine 's Day card.

His head darted up at her call, and he looked at her for a bit before turning his eyes back to floor, looking thoroughly upset. 'You okay Mike?'

He frowned, before turning to meet her eyes. 'I broke up with Tina.'

Quinn gasped- while she'd never thought they'd worked as a couple, she certainly was shocked. 'What? Do you think-'

'I dunno. I dunno what to think anymore-'

'_This is it, quick getaway. I've got my eye on both of them, it's perfect for step one.'_

'_This is just too easy. Where are you now?'_

'_Just a few more steps...'_

As Quinn began to ramble about relationships and how he could work it out with Tina, Mike noticed something to the right over her shoulder. A dark figure, face covered and whole body covered in black clothing right down to the leather gloves over large, manly hands.

Way too sinister to be in a high school. And he was getting closer to the two of them, his head turned to the side, obviously not noticing Mike's staring. He moved closer to Quinn, who seemed none the wiser as the figure drew closer.

'_Keep an eye out-'_

'_I am, my eyes are on the hall, it's a secluded area so no-one seems to have noticed. They probably just think I'm the guy's Asian Goth chick girlfriend-'_

'Are you not even listening to me?'

Everything happened at once as Quinn realised that Mike's eyes were elsewhere, and the figure suddenly lunged forward, quick as a flash while someone to their right yelled 'heads up' and a football came spiralling towards them, hitting the wall right between the figure and Quinn, causing the man to yell out as he leapt backwards, giving Mike just enough time to grab Quinn.

'_Damnit, what the heck was that?'_

'_Jackass's football got loose, almost hit me in the-'_

'_Never mind the football, where are they?'_

'_They're-'_

Turning his eyes to the spot where the jock and cheerleader had just been standing, he saw nothing, not even the faintest evidence that they'd ever been there. It was as if he had imagined it.

And now he was left with the hallway slowing down, students looking at him in complete shock as he panted, looking wildly around for the boy and girl. He looked at the nearest tiny brunette, and grinned when he saw the panic flit across her face.

So be it then. If the pair thought they were getting away that quickly, he'd just use the rest of the students to find them.

And so at 8.56am on a late January morning in 2011, the first shot went off in the halls of McKinley.

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_Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think in a review, otherwise how will I know whether to continue or not? _


	2. Think Fast

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed/story alerted/added this to their favourites, I was blown away by the response! I'm really glad you were eager for the next update, so here it is! It's kind of brief, but more characters' situations will be introduced soon, promise. As always, enjoy and review with your thoughts =) xo_

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Mike kept his hand around Quinn's mouth as he held her against the wall, trying and failing to send brainwaves to tell her to _shut the hell up._

'Quit wriggling Q!' He whispered in her ear, not daring to let her free for fear of her yelling out and giving away their hiding place. He'd got her in here in the nick of time- as soon as the dark figure had been distracted by the well-timed football, he'd grabbed an indignant Quinn and forced her into the broom cupboard besides where they had been standing.

His heart was thudding painfully and he hated the way Quinn was writhing and squealing against his hold (though he was quite surprised she hadn't yet kneed him in his misters), but he had to find out what the _hell _was going on.

It could've been a joke. Just a jock that wanted to pull a bad pran-

They both jumped as a startling bang ripped through the hall, making the cupboard door shudder and Quinn freeze, eyes wider than saucers and shoulders shaking against his hands.

A gunshot. There was no mistaking it, and Mike wasn't stupid. He'd seen enough movies and played enough video-games to know that this was _real, _and that guy in the black disguise was bad enough to have a gun.

The realisation didn't help the fact that he was hiding in a cupboard right besides the gunman though, just metres away from being exposed.

'EVERYBODY STOP.' Mike heard the man yell out, and he froze, finally taking his hand off a silent Quinn's mouth as she stared into space, looking too shocked to react just yet. They both heard the code red alarm go off and Figgins' automated message over the intercom.

Putting a hand cautiously on her shoulder, Mike took a careful step towards the hinge of the door, the only small crack that gave any view of the outside to them. Looking carefully through it, he could just about make out a small group of students from his year, and the back of the burly intruder. He felt Quinn move beside him, as she stood and watched his face, trying to gauge his reaction as he looked at the horrifying scene before him.

'Okay, here's how it's gonna work. You're gonna stand there, until I say otherwise, alright? If you co-operate, you have nothing to worry about.' The deep voice that sounded like it belonged to some sort of Hypnotist shouted out, giving a short smile before toying with the gun in his hands. 'And if not...well, let's just say while that shot was supposed to give a shock, the next will have a lot, _lot _more purpose.' Quinn gulped slightly, and he squeezed her hand lightly.

'I just have a few questions to ask.' Suddenly he pointed the gun at someone out of Mike's view, and his heart leapt into his throat.

'You. What's your name?'

* * *

Rachel gulped, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. She wasn't standing in the hallways of her high school with a gun pointed at her head, it was just a nightmare. She'd wake up in her lilac duvet cover and she'd be fine- she'd go on her treadmill to work off the stress.

But when the huge, masked man before her stepped closer, she was shaken into speaking. 'Rachel. Rachel B-Berry.'

'Hi Rachel.' The deep voice greeted her, and her eyes darted towards the cupboard down the hall. She knew Mike and Quinn were in there.

If only she had gotten there in time.

'So, I'm going to ask you 1 question, and you have 10 seconds to answer. Answer to my expectations, and you get to leave. Understood?'

Rachel nodded as all eyes in the hall darted between the diva and the intruder.

'Excellent. So, here it is- do you know where any of the following are-'His green eyes bore into Rachel's and she quivered under his gaze as his voice rang out loud and clear. 'Mike Chang, Quinn Fabray, Finn Hudson, Santana Lopez, Noah Puckerman and/or Brittany Pierce are?'

Rachel felt all the air leave her as her vision blurred. Her friends. Maybe she wasn't a friend to them, but they were the closest, along with the other glee clubbers, she had to friends.

'Why?'

'I'll ask the questions.' He snarled, and Rachel squinted, trying to see if she could recognise something, anything about the man. Nothing. 'You have 5 seconds now Rachel and you can walk free.'

She resisted the urge to whimper, scream or _run _as she scrambled to think of what to do. Telling him was most definitely completely out of the question; she just hoped he didn't notice her eyes that kept darting to the cupboard. What did Mike and Quinn think? Did they think she would tell him, get her 'revenge' on the years of teasing that Quinn had put her through?

_Finn. _What would he do if he could see her now? The thought that this man was after the boy she loved more than anyone made her _sick. _

_Puck. _He was the strongest person she knew- what would he do if he was in her place?

If she didn't tell him, he'd probably shoot her- or worse, others. Plus, what if others had seen Quinn and Mike, and told him?

Then it occurred to her- _Lie._

'2-'

'I saw a few of them headed towards the quad.' She gestured wildly, and she could practically hear the sigh of relief from the cupboard. The man squinted at her for a few seconds, as if deciding whether she was telling the truth or not, before he let out that manic smile of his and lowered the gun slightly.

'Thanks for that Rach.' Rachel shuddered at the casual manner he said it in, and she just prayed to god that none of them were anywhere near the quad. 'You can go now.'

Rachel froze, her heart twisting painfully as she realised that she'd done one of the most cowardice things she could've done- she basically gave him a false lead so she could _leave them._ She suddenly felt nauseous, and shook her head as his face twisted in confusion. 'N-no.'

'No?'

'I- I don't want to.' She told him pathetically.

'Oh re-' He suddenly paused, his livid eyes shifting to Rachel's right. She took the chance to slowly follow his gaze, and landed on a guy she recognised from her English class, usually unnoticeable but now seemingly caught with a mobile phone in his hands as his fingers ran across the keys.

There was suddenly a huge bang as another gunshot went off, and Rachel leapt to the side, hitting the lockers with a crash as he aimed the bullet at the boys phone, earning a gut-wrenching yell of pain from the receiver as the corridor went manic. People ducked and yelled out everywhere, grabbing eachother and forcing themselves to run flat out towards the exit while Rachel cowered against the lockers, gently being buffered towards the exit, as she covered her ears, unable to bear hearing the boy's strangled screams and the continuous gunshots as the intruder aimed at various lockers on the other side of the hall.

As she was buffered through the crowds towards the door, she knew she had one mission- she couldn't go in the school, but she could get help, and most importantly- _get those 6 people out of there._

_

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To quote Mercedes; thoughts? let me know in a review, kind readers. xo


	3. Unlikely Heroes

_Hmm...not much feedback after the last chapter, which was slightly disappointing, but I have faith that there's people still reading =) Thank you to all those subscribing, adding this to favourites and reviewing. Enjoy and please review and let me know what you think! xo_

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Puck was emerging out of the bathroom, 20 minutes after parting ways with Santana when he heard the first gunshot go off from the other side of the school.

He immediately knew what it was, he wasn't stupid- it was the lower ranked students of the school, the Jacob Ben Israels that had come for revenge, or something like that. He'd seen this sort of stuff on the news, on movies and documentaries. He wasn't stupid.

But _they _were if they thought they were getting anywhere near him and his friends.

He watched as others froze, moving closer to eachother as they looked wildly about for teachers. Suddenly, Ms Pillsbury emerged out of her office, looking around frantically just as the code red came over the intercom.

_Code red, this is not a drill. Exit the school immediately or find a designated lockdown area, I repeat, this is not a drill-_

'Don't just stand there, get out of here!' She cried out to the students, her eyes widened even more than usual as she gestured for them to go towards the nearest exit. Suddenly there was a surge of movement towards him to get to the doors, and he was just about to follow them when he remembered one thing.

His friends: where were they? Finn, Santana, Artie, Brittany, Mike, Quinn- _Quinn._

Shoving against anyone he could, Puck realised his feet were taking him into the centre of the school as he elbowed his way through, earning 'are you crazy?' glances as he went. He suddenly broke into free space, and found that there was scarcely anyone around. A few students ran in different directions, not giving him much attention as he stood there, suddenly at loss of what to do.

Puck was bad-ass. He knew that. But the fact that he was standing alone in a school hallway, just a few corridors away from someone evil enough to shoot out...it scared him like hell. He felt his heart thud, as he stared about the hall that had emptied a surprising amount considering it'd only been about 5 minutes since the first shot.

After a few minutes of walking in the silence, the shouts far away on the other side of the school, Puck came to a halt, listening carefully. Sighing and running a hand through his Mohawk, he began walking again.

Almost immediately after he took a step forward, Puck heard hurried, running footsteps around the corner, and he clenched his fists, tip-toeing forward to wait by the corner, ready to face whoever was there. He tensed, prepared to spring as whoever it was got closer. Closer...closer...closer and-

Puck leapt forward as soon as a white shoe appeared, grabbing the person a moment too late as he realised whoever he'd grabbed was far too skinny, far too woman-like and far too _cheerleader-like _to be the gunman.

And the shriek the blonde let out before Puck clamped a hand on her mouth was far too high-pitched.

'Brittany, calm it, it's Puck!' Brittany opened her eyes wide and visibly relaxed against his hold as her breathing calmed down and she put a hand to her chest. He immediately felt bad, realising this was the last thing she needed in the current circumstances as ne noticed the terrified expression she wore.

'Why- why did you do that?' She panted, looking thoroughly upset as if he'd _meant _to do that.

'I didn't mean it.' He muttered, restraining to roll his eyes. 'Have you seen Quinn? Finn? Santana?'

Brittany shook her head, her eyes growing sadder at the mention of her best friend. 'No. Puck- I can't find Artie.' She whispered, looking on the verge of tears. 'He was _right there _and then I had to quickly get some books from my locker and as soon as I left- it happened.'

Puck sighed- he wasn't so good at girls crying, even though experience with Quinn had made him a little bit more comforting than he used to be- so he put a hand on her arm, looking around the deserted hall, vaguely being able to hear commotion in the distance, possibly outside the school. 'Okay Brit, you need to get out of here-'

'No, I need to find Artie-'She tried to go past him but Puck pushed her back, putting his hands on her shoulders firmly.

'No, you need to get out of here- Artie's probably outside, waiting and wondering where you are. Think about him and Santana.'

Brittany tensed, staring into the distance before she looked back at him, confusion on her brow. 'Wait- you'd be coming with me, right?'

Puck hesitated, before sighing and shaking his head. 'I can't. I have to find...someone.' He finished lamely.

Brittany nodded, looking uncharacteristically sure as she looked him straight in the eye. 'Okay. Well I'm staying with you then.'

'Brittany-'

'No, you need to find Quinn and I need to find Artie and Santana.' Puck didn't know what was more surprising- the fact that Brittany knew he wanted to find Quinn or the fact that she was going against him and deciding to risk her life to find her boyfriend and best friend.

Puck hesitated, about to tell her to get out before he realised- having Brittany by his side probably wouldn't be the _worst _thing in these halls.

'Okay. But you have to do what I say.' He reminded her, and she nodded and grabbed his sleeve, before they ventured around the corner, not sure what they would find in the silent and deadly halls.

* * *

Finn went into auto-pilot as soon as the first gunshot (he wasn't _that _dumb, despite the teachers assuring them not to worry and do what Figgins said, he _knew _that's what it was) went off, battling with the other running students to get the hell out of there. He wanted to see his mom, see his friends, before he had any type of unfortunate run in with...well, whoever it was that was sick enough to shoot a gun in the school. He'd heard screams, yells and scurrying for the door. He knew it wasn't just some sick prank.

He considered himself one of the lucky ones as he broke out into the open air about 15 minutes after the alarms, scanning the area to find someone who knew. Cars that belonged to those fortunate parents that could get back to their children in time were beginning to file in through the school gates, and at least 2 police cars were halting not too far from him, officers jumping out and running askew towards the school. Students all around him were either too shocked like him, just arriving and looking thoroughly confused, or crying and grabbing onto their friends and parents. With a shock, Finn noted that there was one boy, a small one, whose face was scrunched up in pain as a teacher tried to comfort him, head craning around to look for the ambulance that was obviously due to arrive. Finn edged a bit closer, examining the boy- a slight shift in the teacher's seating managed to show him exactly why the boy was in pain.

It was his hand- a rather poor excuse for one with it's through and through bullet hole and bloody mess. Finn immediately felt sick, turning away and beginning to scan the courtyard again, panicking. It was then he realised this wasn't something that would go away, something he'd actually thought he was lucky for escaping the school in time- the school was a crime scene now, yellow tape surrounding it's exterior and polices barking orders into walkie talkies.

His school.

But where was Rachel? Puck? Where was Quinn, Sam, Artie, Tina and Mike? Where was-

'Finn! Oh, thank god! Carol, Burt, he's here!' Finn turned to see Rachel, his mom and Burt hurrying towards him, his mom teary and looking beside herself as she threw herself at him, enveloping him in a hug.

'Oh thank god, I was so- so worried you weren't-' Her voice was muffled in his shirt as she clung on to him, and he patted her back, wanting to give her a comforting smile but not being able to.

'It's okay mom, I'm okay. I got out easy. Have you seen-'

'I'm so glad you're okay.' Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's waist as his mom broke away, and he let his arms hang there, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, despite his overwhelming relief at seeing her alive and well.

'Kurt's on his way, he's getting a lift with Blaine and his friends.' Burt told him, just as another bang echoed from the school. There were small yells around him of shock as Police edged closer, a few hurriedly examining blueprints of the school grounds.

'Okay.' He murmured quickly, before continuing. 'Have any of you seen Puck? Or Quinn? Anyone?'

Rachel frowned in confusion at the mention of Quinn (Even Finn wasn't sure why he was thinking of her, along with Puck, more than anyone else) as his mom's face fell. 'Sorry sweetie, his- his mom's looking for him aswell, I'm sure he's just the other side of the school or something. I'll go ask around for your other friends too.' She hurried off, Burt at her heels as Rachel's face suddenly blanched and she pulled Finn towards her.

'Finn, I need to tell you something. Something happened when- he talked to me.'

'What?' Finn's voice rose in panic. 'Who's he? What happened Rach?' He grabbed her shoulders as she bit her lip, tears in her eyes. 'Rachel?'

'He wants you, Finn. And Santana, and Quinn, Puck, Mike and Brittany. I don't know why, but-'

Finn's heart dropped into his stomach as he began to shake, eyes widening.

Him? Why would they want him and the others? It just didn't make sense. Nothing did anymore.

'Rachel, where are they, the five of them?'

Rachel shook her head, looking slightly hysterical. 'I don't know, that's the thing- I've seen nearly everyone- Sam, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Lauren- but none of them have come out. I don't know what to do. I'm just so glad- wait, where are you- Finn, get back here!'

He could hear Rachel yell after him as he turned in his heel towards the school, an aim in mind. He paused suddenly, turning back to face Rachel who hurried towards him just as his mom and Burt came back, looking confused.

'Rachel, _tell _the police what you know, now!'

'Tell them what? Honey, what's going on?'

Finn's determination faltered when he looked at his mom, Burt's arm around her as she stared at him, perplexed. He didn't wanna leave her. Not after everything she'd been through. He'd be stupid, reckless to go back in there just to find his friends.

But that was just it; they were his friends, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to them and he had just stood outside. Plus, if they really _were _after him- a thought that scared him to death- what if they went for someone close to him instead?

With that thought in mind, he gave Burt a last look- a 'protect my mom if I can't' warning- and gave a fleeting look at Rachel and his mom before his feet propelled him forward, jumping over the yellow tape amidst policeman's, his moms, Burt's and Rachel's shouts, and into the school.

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_Let me know what you think in a review, whether it's a word, sentence or paragraph! xo_


	4. Silent Halls

_Thank you for all the feedback last chapter! It meant a lot, seriously =) This chapter has a bit less action, but I promise more's coming soon. Thanks again, enjoy and review! xo_

* * *

'_So what, they just disappeared into fucking thin air? That's _two _of them, Simon-'_

'_I know, I know, but what am I supposed to do? That _damn _kid and his stupid football-'_

'_I don't care about the football, find the boy and the girl and bring them where we agreed. I gotta talk to the other two- sort it out.'_

_Simon heard the hang up dial over his headset, and smirked before muttering to himself; 'Not before I've had my fun with them first.'_

Quinn and Mike had been sat in the cupboard for about 20 minutes now, barely daring to move, and trying to keep their breaths low and controlled. Which was proving difficult, after what they'd heard.

Quinn's mind was whirring. Not just her, but nearly _all _her friends? Why them? It was a question she desperately wanted to ask them, but that was the point- they had to hide, and _remain _hidden.

Suddenly Mike shifted forward, peering out of the hinge into the hallway and stopping any light getting into the small space as he scanned the area suspiciously. He leant back, his shoulder sagging slightly as she stared at him. 'No sign of him.' Her murmured lowly, glancing back at the door before facing her.

Quinn sighed and leant back on the wall, cursing her decision to go to school when her mom would've let her stay off with a headache. What had she got herself into?

Then again, it can't have been her fault, whatever this sick guy's motives were. She hadn't done anything...except-

'What do we do, when do we get out of here?' She whispered to Mike, watching his reaction as he shook his head, frowning.

'Honestly? I don't know. I guess we just...stay here.'

'And wait for him to find us?' She questioned incredulously, and he quickly gave a warning glance when her voice rose slightly.

'Sorry.'

'It's alright. Well we could-'

Suddenly there were footsteps down the hall, and Quinn held her breath as Mike froze, not daring to steal a glance through the crack as the steps grew nearer. They were heavy- just like the man's who had disappeared, cursing under his breath as he went.

Quinn could hear her heart thudding loudly in her ears, and for a split second she feared whoever it was outside would be able to hear it. She squeezed her eyes shut when she noticed black shadows on the other side of the door, indicating that he was passing it slowly.

There was a pause before the footsteps hurried on past the cupboard, finally disappearing and fading into the distance. Quinn exhaled and inhaled deeply as Mike relaxed too, giving her a weak, comforting smile as he put his head back and closed his eyes.

Every breath they took at the minute was precious to them.

* * *

Finn was cautious as opened the door to the hall, making sure not to make a sound- the glass shattered all over the floor (He was telling himself it got smashed in the chaos- he refused to believe it had been a gunshot even thought the bitter truth was staring him in the face) not helping. Once he had made it through, he headed straight to the sports cupboard nearby, searching for and finding a baseball bat as quietly as he could. Holding it made him feel slightly less vulnerable, just a little bit stronger.

He'd need the courage if he was aiming to walk through this eerie place and find his friends.

He'd tried texting all of them as soon as he got in the building- until he remembered that stupid policy (that surprise surprise, Sylvester had inforced) against cell phones that blocked the network signal.

It didn't feel like the school anymore. Chatter and noise had been replaced by a deathly silence; gum wrappers and fliers on the floor had been replaced by panicky discarded books and worse- blood, and the fear of slushies when turning a corner was now replaced by the fear of a gun, fear of death staring him in the face. Any sound not made by him or the sirens outside made a shiver run down his spine.

This wasn't where he'd been for the last two years. Far from it.

* * *

Santana rested her head carefully on the side of the desk, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She'd gone straight to this empty French classroom when the alarms had gone off, and she'd heard the horrifying shot that was still running through her mind. It wasn't a lockdown area- she'd been too far from any to risk it, but it'd do. She stared miserably at the class work on the desk, and the coffee beside it- coffee that would never get drunk after today's events.

She missed Brittany. The thought that she didn't know where her best friend was made her feel sick to the stomach. While she feared any footsteps in the hall, Santana couldn't help but wish Brittany would suddenly appear, smiling in that dazed way of hers before coming to sit by Santana and taking her pinkie in hers, unscathed.

But no, that was wrong. Brittany had to be outside, safe with Artie, her parents and her little sister Jenna. She had to be safe, alive and well.

Santana couldn't be selfish in an event like this, even if the comfort would be nice.

There were suddenly footsteps down the hall, very quiet, but still audible. Santana froze, her eye fixed on the door for a moment, too numb to do anything. When they got closer however, she went into action, shuffling and crawling to the other side of the desk so that she wasn't in sight if anyone came to the door. She grabbed the fire extinguisher beside her- what she would do with it, she had no idea, but at least she was somewhat armed against whoever it was.

Santana couldn't bear to squeeze her eyes shut when there was abruptly someone outside the door, grabbing the door handle and slowly turning it as she braced herself, fire extinguisher in her arms. She frowned briefly- wouldn't an attacker be louder, more intrusive?

She didn't have much time to give it thought as while the person paused at the door, she tried to adjust the extinguisher in her hands, causing it to slip slightly out of her grip. It scraped against the desk, and Santana froze, trying not to gasp as she heard the person do the same. There were suddenly footsteps, cautious ones as they came closer, and Santana watched the tall shadow, thinking of her family and Brittany as she took a steadying breath, watching the tip of a shoe appear around the corner of the desk...

* * *

_Gaah, sorry for the cliffhanger- I hate reading stories and getting them, but I'll try and upload the next chapter as soon as I can! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think in a review =) xo_


	5. Those Left Behind

_Thanks for all the feedback last chapter, every email makes me smile! And I'm not even kidding. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but don't worry, read on and you'll find out exactly who was going into the classroom...enjoy and review! xo_

* * *

Santana didn't have time to see the intruders face before a ratty old baseball bat was swung her way, and she dived out of the way, cowering and expecting the impact- it never came. Cracking an eye open, her heart quickened in shock and relief.

'Finn!'

'Santana? What the hell...' The bat dropped limply to his side, and Santana felt that she'd never been so glad to see his dopey, bemused face as he looked at her in confusion. She quickly sat up, suddenly embarrassed.

_Control it, Lopez. None of that in...well _this.

'Quit looking so thoughtful Frankenteen, don't give yourself a haemorrhage. What the heck are you doing here?' She demanded, pulling him down next to her so that he wouldn't be seen as he gave her an annoyed look.

'I could say the same thing to you!'

Santana rolled her eyes, not being able to help herself. She was too annoyed that he scared the living daylights out of her. 'What do you think? I was hiding. In case you haven't realised, some maniac is on the loose-'

'You don't think I know that?' Finn snapped back, and Santana was momentarily caught off guard at the bitterness in his voice. She responded with equal distaste, both still talking as low as they could.

'Well you obviously don't, you seem to have been roaming the school. What happened, drop your brains on the way ou-'

'Actually, I _did _get out of the school, but I came back in to find you!' He replied, livid as Santana's heart quickened before going back to normal, staring at him as he immediately realised his words had come out wrong. 'I mean, not just _you, _I mean like all you guys. Puck, Mike, Quinn...' He trailed off, and Santana couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

There was a pause as Santana absorbed that information, before she frowned, turning to look at him. 'Wait, they're not out there?' Her voice rose slightly in pitch, fearing the worst.

Finn shook his head before replying dully, almost reading Santana's mind as he added: 'Brittany's not there either. I've been over about a third of the school, there's no sign of anyone. Rachel got out.' He added as an afterthought, looking relieved and Santana nodded, strangely comforted by the small girl's safety.

Santana laid her head back again, mind whirring. She found it hard to believe that people like _Puck _and Quinn (Who, despite her usual gentle manner could be really scrappy when needs be) hadn't got out and chose to hide instead. Unless...

No. She couldn't think like that. She had too much to lose; she couldn't lose her sanity aswell.

Suddenly Finn spoke up, his voice slightly panicked. 'Okay, there's something I need to tell you. About...whoever the guy is.'

'Wait, how do you know it's a guy? What else do you know?' She asked hurriedly, sitting up straighter as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

'Rachel told me some stuff. She had a little...run in with him.' Santana's breath hitched in her throat. 'She knows who he's looking for.'

* * *

'Dad!'

Burt turned as Kurt ran up to him, tears in his eyes and Blaine close at his heels, staring around the area in pure shock. Kurt frowned at the painfully familiar building briefly, before turning back to his dad, confusion etched on his pale face. Having been told everything on the phone and hearing it on the radio, he was well informed- but it still wasn't sinking in.

How could the school that he left a mere few months ago be in such a horrible state?

He watched as his dad's face flashed between anger, sadness and sympathy in confusion. 'Dad? What's going on, where is everyone?'

Burt hesitated before answering, folding his arms. Kurt briefly noted Carol in the background, arguing with a policeman. 'Finn came out, but went back in when he found out some of his- _your _friends were still inside the school. Obviously he didn't even _think _how much he's putting his mom through when he did so-' His voice rose but Kurt interrupted, hands trembling.

'What do you mean? Who's still in there?'

Burt shrugged helplessly, looking tired and anxious. 'I dunno. Rachel's here, she's talking to a policeman somewhere, she wouldn't say why.' He gestured vaguely to a police car before continuing. 'And I think the rest of the people you're looking for are over there.' Kurt turned quickly to see Mercedes, Artie, Tina and Sam standing in a small group, their parents dispersed around the place near policeman. They hadn't seen him yet, and instead stood facing the school, not moving as they stared at it.

Kurt felt Blaine clap him on the shoulder as he told him sympathetically: 'I'll leave you to it.' Before he walked away to call his friends and inform them of their whereabouts, having left as soon as they heard the news. Kurt hurried over to where the group was standing, and Mercedes caught sight of him and immediately ran to hug him, on the verge of tears as he held back his own.

Thank _god _she was okay.

'I'm so glad you're all okay.' He gave a watery smile that came out as a grimace to the others, and they nodded back, arms around eachother for comfort.

Kurt noticed that Sam had stayed quiet, his eyes flitting between the floor and the building, his eyes red. Noticing his stare, he spoke quietly, glancing at Kurt as he did so.

'I shouldn't have left her. I should've- I should've found out where she was, tried to find her.' He told him, eyes tortured as Kurt felt half pity and half pain that Quinn was still in there. 'What sort of person does that? Just- just leaves their girlfriend behind to save their own back?' His voice rose and cracked slightly as Tina cut in.

'I'm sure she's just hiding, Sam, we can't assume-'

'But what if she's not, huh? I couldn't- I couldn't live with myself if she didn't...and all because I was too much of a coward to-'

Mercedes butt in while Kurt remained at loss of what to say. 'Hey, don't say that- you did what you had to do, no-one judges you at all. Especially not Quinn.' She swallowed then, a tear falling down her cheek as Kurt continued for her.

'Anyone would've done what you did, Sam.'

Sam looked back towards the school before shaking his head, folding his arms across his chest. 'Finn didn't.' He told them bluntly before stalking away, back towards the school.

* * *

_I enjoyed writing the 'outsiders' view, but what do you guys think? Do you wanna see more of the guys on the outside? let me know. xo_


	6. Hide and Seek

_Darn, there was me thinking I'd get this out to you on Friday! In my defence, I've been basically housebound with studying for my Spanish&Math tests, so I don't have a lot of time lately. Nevertheless, here's the next chapter! Some action in this one, so enjoy and review! xo_

* * *

What seemed like hours later (Quinn couldn't be sure; she'd lost track of time. It could've been days, it could've been minutes.), she spoke up, breaking the silence in the cupboard as she cleared her throat, still staring into space as she had been since her and Mike had stopped talking.

'What do you think happens now?'

Mike opened his closed eyes as she turned to look at him from her place beside him where they both leaned against the wall. 'What do you mean?'

'What happens to us? How long do we stay here? If they're looking for us, they're not gonna leave. Not without a fight.' She shook her head, becoming increasingly pessimistic as she contemplated all the options. They could stay, and wait for him to find them, or they could leave, and be found.

It really was a losing situation no matter what they did.

Mike shook his head, seemingly just as lost as she was. 'Honestly? I don't know. We stay until...until we can be sure that he isn't anywhere near here.'

'And the others?' Quinn added as an afterthought, fear gripping her heart again. She was pretty sure most of her friends and Sam would've made it out. They seemed the more getting out type as opposed to staying put and hiding. But Puck...Finn...Santana...Brittany- what had happened to them?

'If needs be, we find them.' Mike told her calmly, trying to mask his fear for Quinn's sake.

Truth was, he was terrified. He was supposed to be the leader, the calm decision maker- the hero that got the heroine out of the school safely. But he had _no freaking idea _of what to do, or how to do it.

There was another long pause before Quinn spoke again, her voice softer than before. 'What happened with you and Tina then?'

Mike hesitated, struggling for words before he answered. 'I think it's over.'

Quinn furrowed her brows, as if disappointed, and Mike couldn't help but smirk, amused. 'Don't look so upset, Q. Truth be told, I kinda always knew it wouldn't last forever. But-' He paused, looking solemn as he continued. 'I thought it would hurt less than this.' He stopped talking then, and Quinn his thickening voice as a sign that he wasn't completely ready to talk about it.

'I'm sorry.' She whispered, before sighing and adding. 'If it helps, I'm thinking about ending things with Sam.'

Mike raised his eyebrows at her. 'Seriously? The power-couple? Damn, glee club isn't having much luck lately...' He smirked as Quinn elbowed him.

'I just think I need to stick to what I said at the beginning of the year, and focus on me. At least for a little while.' She told him, biting her lip as Mike nodded approvingly.

'Sounds fair to me.'

There was yet another pause, and both found that for at least a few minutes, the current situation had been pushed to the back of their minds as they discussed trivial matters that couldn't compare to what was happening now. Despite that though, it was oddly comforting.

'Thank you, by the way.' Quinn suddenly offered, smiling slightly at a surprised Mike. 'I never told you.'

'For what?'

'For saving me. You got us in the cupboard. If it wasn't for you, we would've...I dunno. But thanks.' She told him sincerely, and Mike's spirits lifted ever so slightly.

At least he'd been a hero once today.

* * *

Puck crept towards the corner near the home ed rooms, peering around carefully as Brittany stood behind him quietly. He had to admit, he was impressed by the way Brittany had been acting- he'd assumed she'd be loud and generally careless, but he had thought wrong. She was possibly the quietest Puck had ever seen her, and had actually come up with some good ideas.

Though he drew a line at _her _leading them around.

He sighed in relief when there was no-one there, and they continued their pursuit. Their game plan was finding their friends, and then getting the hell outta there. So far no luck- apparently most had preferred to run for their lives than hide. Puck couldn't really blame them.

'You got your cell, Brit?' He whispered, and Brittany paused, before looking surprised as she shook her head.

'No. I lost it..' She told him, trailing off as he sighed in agitation. His had died, so it was stuck at home.

Fat lot of use that was.

Suddenly an idea occurred to him. 'I got it- we're close to Figgin's office, right?'

'Is he in there?'

'What? N- No, he's not.' Brittany pouted, looking disappointed as Puck tried not to roll his eyes. 'We can go there and use the phone though, and get help! Damnit, why didn't I think of that earlier?' He punched his fist into his other hand before hurrying (while trying to remain quiet) in the direction towards the office.

Once they'd arrived, he was unnerved to find it eerily quiet, as if someone was watching. Clenching his jaw, he shrugged it off and carefully opened the door.

_You can't afford to be a pussy right now, Puckerman._

Closing the door behind them, Brittany bounded forward, grabbing the phone and holding it out towards Puck. He took it gratefully, once again glad he had the blonde to keep him from losing his mind. He paused above the buttons, and Brittany cleared her throat. 'You gonna call 999?'

Puck hesitated before shaking his head. 'I was gonna. But that's no use, they're out there and they'll know by now students are in here. People will have told them.' His throat closed up slightly, thinking of his ma and how bad a state she'd be in. Swallowing the feeling, he quickly tapped the number he knew so well into the phone, waiting for Finn to pick up.

'Go find some numbers in those cabinets.' He instructed Brittany, who nodded before turning back to him.

'Which numbers?'

'My mom, your mom, I dunno. Mr Schue, just the one you find first.' Puck told her nervously, annoyed he'd never bothered to memorise his mom's cell phone number.

Brittany began to carefully rifle through files as Puck put the phone down, cursing under his breath. 'Damnit.'

'I got it!' Brittany exclaimed, bounding over to him with the piece of laminated paper. Puck took it from her eagerly, to see 'Miss Andrea Puckerman' and her details beside it. He sighed in relief before dialling the number, pressing the phone to his ear as if it was a lifeline while his heart rate increased.

'Please pick up, please pick up.' He whispered, closing his eyes.

'_Hello? Who is this?' _A tired voice demanded, and Puck almost collapsed with relief at hearing his ma's voice.

'Ma, it's Noah-'

'_Noah! Oh my god, where are you, are you okay? How are you cal-' _He could hear the shock and tears in her voice, and his eyes welled up slightly.

'Ma, I'm okay- we're in principal figgins' office using the phone. We're safe at the minute-'

'_We? Whose we? Noah get out of-'_

'Brittany, you know Santana's friend?' Brittany attempted to speak then, and Puck asked the unspoken question for her, turning away from her. 'Can you tell her family she's okay?'

'_Of course, but why can't you-'_

'Ma, whose made it out? Have Finn, Santana, Artie and everybody from Glee? Quinn?'

'_I'm sorry sweetie, I've only seen Artie, the Jewish girl, that girl Mercedes, the gothic chick and that blonde football player. I haven't seen Quinn or the others anywhere-'_

Puck gripped the desk, wanting to cry out suddenly. He heard a small scuffle behind him, but he assumed Brittany was searching for her mom's number. 'Okay. I gotta find them. I can't leave them here-'

'_What? Noah, don't you dare try and play the hero in a situation like this, get out here right now-' _He could hear his ma's panicking voice rise.

'I'm sorry ma. I have to find them. I'll be okay- tell Anna and all my friends I love them. I love you too.' He added, fearing it would be the last time he got to tell her that. It shattered his heart.

'_Noah, please-'_

'Hang up the phone.' A loud voice from behind Puck, far too deep to be Brittany's, suddenly interrupted them, and Puck froze, eyes widening as his ma cried on the other end of the phone.

'_Noah? Noah-'_

Puck turned slowly, scared of what he'd find.

A man, smaller than him but muscular as hell was masked in black head to toe, with only his scowling mouth and small, dark eyes exposed on tan skin. Puck's grip on the phone slackened as he saw that the man's arms were gripped around Brittany, hand clamped over her mouth as she struggled to no avail. Puck's blood turned to ice as he cursed himself for not being alerted by the 'small scuffle'.

'Mom I gotta go. I love you, tell Anna I love her too.' He said evenly into the phone, his voice robotic. He hung up before his ma could say another word, not being able to bear her voice any longer as the man nodded approvingly. He dropped the phone onto the desk, causing a small bang before he stared at the man, in a second deciding his next actions.

Lunging forward suddenly, Puck launched himself at the intruder with a snarl, making sure to hit his side so as to not hurt Brittany, who gasped as the man loosened his grip on her with shock at the sudden attack. As Puck wrenched the man's arm away, the latter abruptly tossed Brittany harshly to the side, making her fall into the filing cabinet with a loud crash as she fell to the floor, seemingly knocked out.

Puck forgot his attack and hurried over to her, his heart momentarily ceasing to beat when he saw the small splotch of blood on the cabinet where she'd hit it. He was about to bend down when he felt strong hands grip his shoulder, pulling him away as he growled and struggled. He attempted to kick the man's shins, elbow his ribs, anything he could, but he had underestimated the man's strength.

Suddenly he felt something sharp stab into his arm, and he glanced down to see a syringe there, the man's hand gripping it as Puck immediately felt his eyelids droop, drowsiness beginning to take over his senses. His knees buckled as the man held him up, and he gave a feeble attempt to hit out at him, glancing at Brittany who failed to stir, sprawled out on the floor.

As his thoughts went to his friends and his mom, darkness overcame him while he heard the man speak, as if he was on the phone.

'_I got the first two, boss.'_

_

* * *

_

Yuh-oh. First two down...for now. I'll say no more. Anywho, review and let me know what you think! xo


	7. Hostage

_Sorry guys, I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to update! Hope the new information in this chapter gains your forgiveness. I'll tell you this- this is about halfway through (or just under) the story, so expect some advancements as we go along the story! Will try and upload the next chapter asap, hopefully tomorrow if I get the chance. Enjoy and review! xo _

_PS, off topic, who else is super excited for the superbowl ep? _

* * *

'So...what do we do now?'

Santana rolled her eyes when Finn spoke up next to her, saying it so casually that she wanted to smack him. And not in a good way. 'How'd you mean Finnotsoinnocent, I don't know about you but I wasn't planning on playing scrabble in a circumstance like this...'

'No, I mean-' He rolled his eyes too, looking impatient. 'What are we doing just sitting here? We need to find the others-'

'Are you kidding me? We have a freakin price on our head, and you wanna play the hero? Baseball bats are weaker than bullets, Finn.' Santana snapped back incredulously. Having absorbed the information Finn had told her in sheer shock, she had quickly realised that they had no choice but to hide. _Why _some mad fool was after her and her friends was beyond her, but it also made her scared stiff.

'You are _so _selfish Santana!' Finn snapped back, his whisper livid. 'These are our friends we're talking about, and you're prepared to-'

'Well what else can we do, huh? In case you haven't noticed, this guy is crazy enough to target 6 kids for no reason in particular and take the school hostage because of it. It's not like we can just find them, get out and live happy ever after.'

'What about Brittany, huh?' Santana froze, and Finn could tell he'd hit a nerve. 'You just gonna leave her here?'

There was a pause as tears welled up in Santana's eyes and throat, and her voice became a soft whisper. 'Of course not. But- there's nothing I can do. It won't work-'

'But we have to try!' Santana turned to look at Finn's cute but pained face. 'What if something happened to Quinn, Puck, Mike or Brittany and we didn't even try to stop it, just sat here and argued? Are you gonna live with that?'

A tear fell down Santana's face, overwhelmed about the situation. A world without her best friend...just wasn't a world she wanted to even try and live in. And the others, even Quinn- _especially _not Quinn didn't deserve this. 'No.' She shook her head, and Finn suddenly grabbed her hand, before looking slightly alarmed, worrying she'd hit him before Santana smiled weakly, comforted despite the horrible situation.

Smiling crookedly, Finn sat up straighter as Santana looked at him, suddenly depending on him as both their leader. 'Let's go then.'

* * *

Puck felt his head swim as he groggily awoke, momentarily disorientated and convinced he was waking up from a bad hangover in his own bed. The thumping headache and smell of alcohol supported it, but the fact that he could feel he was sitting on a chair, hands tied behind his back didn't.

His head bobbed slightly as he tried to lift it, groaning slightly as he opened his eyes, taking in the floor as the whole place blurred. He could see hurried, black trainer clad footsteps going back and forth, and could distinctly hear someone talking in a phone before taking a swig of a drink from a bottle.

'_I've got the- yeah, the Puckerman kid and the blonde cheerio- the guy keeps muttering Quinn while he sleeps so I thought it was her before she said her name was Brittany-'_

Puck's head shot up, and he saw that he was in the green room that the film-making class used, his chair in the midst of the room while the intruder paced back and forth, his back to Puck. He looked to the side, half expecting to see Quinn there before he saw Brittany's scared eyes looking back at him, a bruise near her blood-matted hair and tied to a chair aswell.

He was about to mouth something to her before he was cut off.

'You're awake.' Puck looked up, still groggy to see the man's arms folding as he pursed his lips and watched Puck carefully, obviously not seeing the injured Brittany as a threat.

When Puck didn't answer, the man took another swig from the glass bottle- a vodka one- and leered at them. 'I'm celebrating.' He told him, gesturing to the bottle clumsily. '_I, _innocent ol' Damien Sanders, caught the first lot! And not only that, the supposed _toughest _guy, and the dumb blonde!' He giggled hysterically, taking another swig as Puck's hands shook in their ties while he tried to free himself of them.

'I'm not dumb.' Brittany muttered bitterly, looking teary as the man suddenly looked at her. He slowly crouched down before her, and she gazed back at him, eyes strangely unemotional as her head throbbed. She could feels Puck's warning gaze on her, but she was too plain _scared _to do anything else but watch Damien as he slowly reached into her hair that had fallen from it's ponytail, pulling back his hand to reveal blood- her blood- on his tan fingertips. She swallowed as he smirked, and reached back his hand, still not saying a word.

Puck recoiled in horror as the man's hand made contact with Brittany's cheek, letting out a yell of shock as she cried out. He struggled harder, fearing Damien would do more. But he stopped there, taking another swig as he gave a panting Brittany a warning glance before turning back to Puck.

'Now where was I?' Damien asked calmly.

'You're sick!' Puck shouted out accusingly, and Damien laughed.

'Puck, right? How's the kid?' He added, his voice amused, and Puck knew at once that he was talking about Beth. It tore at his heartstrings as he shook with rage.

'How'd you know about that?'

'I know a lot about you both. _And _your friends.' Damien added as an afterthought, smiling cruelly. 'We needed to, to get you lot rounded up.'

Puck was about to snap back before Brittany interrupted, her voice laced with fear. 'We?'

Damien paused before he gave a crooked smile. 'Forgot you didn't know about them.'

* * *

Mike and Quinn were making random chat to pass the time when she suddenly gripped his arm, cutting his sentence off as they both fell quiet, listening intently as footsteps sounded down the hall. They could hear sliding and giggling, as if whoever it was was kicking books about on the floor. Books thrown there in panic, Mike thought to himself resentfully.

The footsteps sounded too close for him to even think about peeking through the crack, so he stayed still, listening as a surprising sound filled the silence.

It was a woman's voice- it was a slightly deep and foreign one, but definitely a woman's.

'Come out come out wherever you are!' She sang playfully as Mike felt Quinn's terrified eyes turn to his face as he gulped. _Who was she? _For some reason, the voice sounded almost _familiar _to Quinn, but she assumed her mind was playing tricks on her.

'I know you're here somewhere, and trust me, I'm gonna find you.'

Mike's mind reeled as he tried to think of a way to get out of this. He thought of none, and just prayed she'd continue walking, whoever she was. His heart thumped loudly, almost blocking out the woman's creepy voice as she giggled some more. He felt the movement past the cupboard before she continued, obviously oblivious to the slightly hidden door.

'Trust me; me and my friends are not one to lose a game. Plus...hide and seek's _my_ favourite by far...'

He could hear Quinn gulp, and he squeezed her hand encouragingly, both of them listening carefully before the footsteps moved away and he breathed a sigh of relief. Quinn's never came though, and she stared at him in horror.

'There's more of them, Mike.'

* * *

_Dun dun dun. Leave a review and let me know what you think!_


	8. Run Santana, Run

_I think this is one of my favourite chapters so far. A bit of angst, bit of action, bit of cuteness, bit of friendship. There's about 6 or 7 more chapters to go, so the next few will be leading up to the final...well, you'll see. Review and enjoy as always, lovely readers! xo_

* * *

'Coast is clear.'

Quinn stepped out of the cupboard after Mike, squinting when the brightness suddenly stung her eyes, as if she'd been in the small space for years. It honestly felt like she had. She tentatively stood next to him as he scanned the hallway, feeling extremely exposed in the unusually quiet place.

'Are you sure we should be doing this?' She whispered to him, standing close behind him as they made their way down the hall towards the edge of the building where the choir room was.

'I think so.'

'But what if they're not there..?'

'Then...we stay there and hide. Mr Schue's office locks, right? Extra barrier.'

There was abruptly a gunshot, and they both jumped at the resulting crash it had made. Quinn realised immediately that it wasn't anywhere near them, somewhere behind them as she relaxed, though still shaken by it. Mike took a deep breath, bracing himself as they passed another corner before sighing in relief.

'Yeah, but...' Mike looked at her curiously when she trailed off, but she shook her head. 'It's nothing.'

To be honest, Quinn just didn't like the fact that if they weren't in the choir room, they had to immediately give up. She _wanted _to find them, all of them, she didn't _want _to sit idle by when they could be getting out of the school and perhaps finding them along the way.

If they were even in the school- in which case they were endangering their lives for nothing.

Suddenly there was hurried, running footsteps behind them accompanied by panting, and Mike gripped Quinn's arm, ready to pull her out of harm's way as they turned to face whoever it was. When they saw the girl, cheerleader's uniform ripped and cuts on her leg, the pair's jaws dropped as they stood still.

'Santana?'

* * *

Puck looked at the clock, just within his viewing range- 11:16am, which meant they'd been in the school for just over two hours. But it didn't feel like his school anymore- it felt like a nightmare, a horror film gone wrong.

And he knew that not everyone survived in those films- you had to be pretty damn lucky.

The cruellest part of it all? Those actors walked free, went back to normal lives after filming those stupid scenes- but none of them could walk free after this, even if they survived.

He kept his eyes on the clock, as if missing a single second would determine his fate or not. He only glanced away from it when Damien got too close to them, or if Brittany's head began to droop.

As the clock turned 11:17, the latter happened, and Puck snapped his head to the side, firmly whispering to an exhausted and pale looking Brittany: 'Stay awake, Brit.'

'I'm tired though. My head hurts.' She whispered weakly, and Puck gave a harsh sigh, glaring at Damien, who frowned at his phone before swiftly walking into the sub-office, leaving Puck with a sharp glare as if to warn him not to escape.

Not that he could- he'd tried to no avail.

'I know Brit, but you gotta keep awake.' Puck was scared if she got too close to sleep, she would refuse to wake up. And that was a scenario he just couldn't deal with.

She nodded, before forcing her head to lift and staring, determined at the clock. Her vision swimmed still, but she could keep awake if she kept talking, and thinking. Suddenly something occurred to her, and she turned to look at Puck, who was trying and failing to free his hands while the man was gone. 'What did your mom say?'

'She's seen Tina, Mercedes, Sam, Rachel- oh, and Artie.'

Brittany unexpectedly felt _hope _run through her veins, and didn't think she'd ever felt so relieved in her life. He was okay. Just that thought could help her get through this.

Suddenly she remembered someone, and froze. 'And Santana?' She asked fearfully, afraid of the answer.

Puck shook his head solemnly, before adding. 'Neither have Quinn, Finn and Mike.' He swallowed then, and Brittany could see the pain on his face as he looked down. She put her head back, wondering how she'd gone from discussing with her parents- _god _she missed her parents- what they should have for dinner when Artie came round, to sitting in the principal's office, _hostage._

Suddenly Damien waltzed back out, a grin on his slightly drunken face. Brittany had been able to tell the whole time that he wasn't with it- then again, anyone crazy enough to do this to students couldn't be.

'Good news, guys. You can stretch your legs a bit- on the walk to that piano, sing song, rainbows and sunshine room.' He scoffed a bit, and Brittany realised he was talking about the choir room. She felt a strange sense of optimism- at least they'd be out of _here, _before her face fell at his next sentence.

'She's ready for you now.'

* * *

Finn stood close to Santana as they ventured out into the hallway pass the arts department, and it didn't take long for her to realise, rolling her eyes but not pushing him away. 'Damn Hudson, you look like you've seen a ghost.' When he blanched, she realised what she'd said was pretty damn ignorant of the situation.

'Sorry.' She muttered as he frowned. 'Habit.'

'It shouldn't be. I mean, you're always so...harsh to people, but when you're around Brittany-'

'Exactly, around Brittany.' She snapped quietly back at him, hurt by his accusations even though they were true. 'I hate being a bitch to Brittany.'

Finn's face softened slightly as they continued slowly through the halls. 'You really care about her, don't you?'

There was silence, before Santana sighed, realising it was no use to think of some sarcastic remark. 'Of course. She's...she's my best friend. But it's like more than that.' She added, realising her emotions were getting the better of her today as she began to pour her heart out. 'I mean, I love her, but I'm not in love with her. Not that way anyway. It's like, I can't imagine living without her. I don't _want _to imagine it. She's like my lifeline. Without her...'She trailed off as they unconsciously slowed down. 'I don't know what I'd do.'

There was silence as Santana realised she was on the verge of tears. She wiped her eyes, embarrassed as Finn nodded sympathetically. He had a sudden urge to pull her into a hug, but refrained from doing so as they continued on their walk.

'We'll find her.' He told her firmly, and she nodded.

'I hope so.'

There was another pause, and Santana suddenly stopped him, turning to face him. He looked at her, confused as she whispered to him. 'I'm really sorry I messed up you and Rachel.'

She stepped closer to him, and Finn was about to answer when somebody cleared their throat and spoke in a deep, gravelly voice.

'Sorry to interrupt, but-' A gunshot rang out then, and Finn and Santana jumped apart just in time as they bullet went through the middle and hit the glass doors, causing them to shatter while glass flew everywhere, hitting Santana's bare skin and making her cry out.

The masked man leapt towards her as she cowered from the glass, catching her off guard as he yanked at her ponytail, dragging her back as she yelped and tried to swat at his hands, ignoring the burning in her scalp. Suddenly Finn appeared besides her, his face anguished as he tried to wrench the man's arms away.

While he grew distracted, Santana kicked out, her keds hitting him in the shins, hard. He yelled out, turning to battle with Finn as Santana broke free. The pair of men continued to throw punches at eachother, but when the intruder gained the upper hand, Santana ran and leapt on his back, curving her elbow around his neck as he growled. Letting go of Finn, he threw Santana off of him into the air, and she shrieked when she hit the ground with a thud, groaning as her whole body ached.

She could see the man holding Finn up against the locker, and was visibly winning over Finn, who suddenly spotted Santana and yelled at her, his lip cut and blood trickling down his chin.

'Santana! Get out of here!'

Santana shook her head, getting up as she prepared to hit the man again. She suddenly stopped, realising if she got thrown off of the man again, she'd definitely be knocked out.

'SANTANA, RUN FOR GOD'S SAKE!'

Taking one last look at Finn's anguished face, Santana turned on her heels and fled, ignoring the ache in her legs as she sprinted through the halls, the yells and bangs behind her only forcing her to keep going.

She wasn't being a coward, she was getting help. No way in hell was she going to let the man get the better of Finn.

She kept running, before spotting a familiar blonde girl and an Asian ahead of her. She stopped briefly in sheer shock, relief flooding through her veins along with the adrenaline as she forced herself to keep running.

But she wasn't running away- she was being the fucking hero for once.

* * *

_Go Santana, go! Reviews = Love. And who doesn't love love? xo_


	9. Choices

_Before you start pelting me with rotten e-fruit, i have a legitimate reason for not having updated recently- the reason being that I was struck down with the damn flu for about 8 days or so. So that completely threw me off, and I only remembered this morning about my lovely readers and this story. So, here's the next chapter! _

* * *

'_Welcome to CNN, I'm Beverly Nickel and this is today's breaking news: _

_William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio is allegedly been taken hostage after an unnamed man, supposedly unrelated to the school let a gunshot off at approximately 8:56am in the halls, surrounded by other students. Students and staff members alike immediately fled the building, and the bomb squad, police and ambulances were called shortly after the alarms went off. _

_There has so far been no invasion by the squad into the school due to safety matters, as it is believe after a recent register taking that there are at least 6 students still left inside the school._

_A mother of one of the pupils left in there who prefers to rename nameless, has confirmed through a phone call that he is in fact inside the school with another anonymous student- phone lines have since been down, causing no further contact from the inside of the school._

_We're going live to Andrew, who is at the high school:'_

'_Thanks Beverly- as you can see, the majority of the students, staff and parents are still in the school grounds, praying that these 6 students will be brought and safe and well, and that the gunman will bring himself forward. I'm here with- excuse me, what's your name?'_

_The Girl stepped forward, bitterly speaking into the microphone. 'Mercedes Jones.'_

'_Miss Jones, can you put into words how you might be feeling about this horrible tragedy?'_

_She shook her head, glaring at the cameraman as she spoke into the mic again. 'I could tell you that, but I'd rather tell you this; those 6 people were my friends, and they deserve a hell of a lot more than some newsreader trying to make some cash by their misery. Because the truth is, no words _can _describe how I'm feeling. You should be ashamed of yourself.'_

_As she walked out of the camera's viewing range, the camera awkwardly turned back to Andrew._

'_Back to you, Beverly, I think we've all seen enough of the tragedy that is occurring here in Lima Ohio today.'_

_

* * *

_

'Santana?' Mike repeated incredulously as Santana suddenly burst into tears, her uniform torn, ponytail dishevelled and cuts all over her arms and legs while mascara ran down her face. She looked a mess, and as she moved towards them Quinn hurried towards her.

'Santana, what the hell..' She put her arm around her, too shocked at her frenemy's sudden appearance to dwell on her relief at seeing her alive but not so well. 'Are you-'

'Thank god you're okay.' She told the pair as Mike moved cautiously towards them, examining the cuts as he frowned.

'What the heck happened, you have bits of glass in your skin..' He told her, plucking a piece out as she shook her head swiftly.

'That doesn't matter, I'm fine, it's Finn you need to worry about.'

Quinn's knees nearly buckled at the mention of Finn. Her eyes widened as she restrained from shaking a calming down Santana's shoulders. 'Why, what happened? Where is he San?'

'He- He found me while I was hiding, and we decided to try and find y-you guys after he told me what the gunman's planning for us all, and then- the guy found us and shot out-' Quinn gasped while Mike tried to interrupt, but she hushed him into silence. '-And Finn told me to run for help, so I did. But please, you gotta help him, the guy has a gun.' Santana whimpered slightly, looking hysterical as she gripped at Mike's arms.

He looked once at Quinn before shaking his head slowly. 'You two can't come with me, and I- I can't leave you two alone.'

'What the-'

'Mike.' Quinn turned to him, appalled.

'I can't leave-' He told her, struggling between wanting to help Finn but not wanting to leave the two girls alone. 'I won't leave you both, not when there's-.'

'Mike.' Quinn told him softly, stepping towards him and looking up at him as he stood there, torn. She gripped his shoulders, attempting to give him comfort as she widened her eyes pleadingly at him. He relaxed a bit, but his face was slightly tortured. 'You need to help him. He needs you Mike, more than we do- you know it's the right thing to do.'

There was a pause before Mike nodded, suddenly pulling Quinn into a hug before grabbing a tentative Santana to join them, not knowing when, or possibly if he'd see them again. Feeling teary, uncharacteristically so, Mike broke apart, murmuring into Quinn's hair to stay safe before hurrying in the direction Santana told him.

The two girls watched him go, before Quinn turned to hopeless looking Santana, gulping. She suddenly realised she had no plan in mind whatsoever, and they were now standing in an empty hallway, the only sounds their heavy breathing.

'What do we do now?' Quinn asked tentatively, and wondered how many times she'd said that today. She really wasn't the most efficient person in vital situations. 'I mean there's at least two of them, how do we-'

'There's two?' Santana breathed out, eyes widening, and Quinn nodded gravely.

Santana looked into the distance for a while, thoughtful before she looked back at the blonde, speaking lowly. 'We get out of here. Mike can get Finn out, and the other two...'

'Santana-'

'We can't do it Quinn, we can't.' Santana told her desperately, on the verge of tears again. Quinn realised how much the usually feisty cheerleader had been affected by today as she continued. 'You weren't there when me and Finn had to fight against the guy, we can't do it.'

Quinn nodded as she continued. 'If I knew we had a chance, I'd try and find Brittany in the blink of an eye, Puck too.' Quinn swallowed, fear gripping her heart at the thought of Puck, possibly alone in the school.

'We're only human, Q. And these people know that.'

* * *

_Damn, I'm sorry it was so short, but I might upload the next one later. _

_As for the last two episodes, OMG. Seriously, they were brilliant imo. I'm loving Fuinn seeing as their my second OTP, and both episodes' songs were awesome. Hope the rest of the season is just as good. As always, hope you enjoyed, and review! =) xo_


	10. Fight and Flight

_This was probably one of my favourite chapters to write, it's basically all getting into action now. There's about 3 or 4 chapters left, so you just know they'll be the whole climax of it all! I might upload the next chapter later today- I'm eager to get this story finished and published by the end of this week, as I'm working on a new multi-chapter fic. It's very unlike this one, but I'll tell you one thing: It's all about the adult lives of our favourite gleeks. It's probably the longest I've written- I'm working on chapter 14 and it's not even half way through yet! So I hope you'll check that out whenever I get a chance to upload it. _

_Anyway, back to this story. Warning: I'll be venting my frustration at Ryan Murphy at the end of this chapter, so be warned! Enjoy and review, lovely readers xo_

* * *

Finn gasped as he bent double, the kick to his stomach winding him as his eyes watered. He was half tempted to give up, just let the man kill him. He was too _tired _of running, _tired _of fighting, and for what? To postpone what was inevitable- this guy winning and killing them all?

But as he crouched there, the guy laughing behind him, he remembered Santana's retreating, running figure; remembered her desperation to find Brittany; he imagined Puck's determination to find Quinn like he obviously would, and the latter's face when she heard the gunshot went off. He remembered his mom's teary face, and Rachel's pleading stares.

He had way too much to live for to give up now.

He began to turn, anticipating the man still standing and laughing behind him. What he didn't expect? For the man's leg to kick out at a freakishly high angle, hitting him in the jaw and sending him spiralling to the floor. He heard a small crack and groaned as the ground in front of his face blurred before him. Realising with mild bitterness that his plan to be heroic and honourable had once again failed, he laid his throbbing head on the cold flair and let his body succumb to the darkness, just as a familiar, low voice shouted out.

'_Finn!' _

* * *

Puck glanced up and his eyes widened as he saw an unconscious Finn, his clothes wrecked and face bloody, and a barely conscious Mike being dragged into the room roughly by an even bigger guy than the one that had taken him and Brittany hostage. The blonde gave a small gasp as Mike was dropped beside her, groaning as he gave a feebly struggle from the leather ties around his hands. The man gave him a sharp shove as Finn was dropped next to Puck, who attempted to shove his friend and wake him as Brittany attempted to console Mike.

Puck began to panic- he had thought the pair would be out of the school, not captured with them inside the god-damn choir room that had practically become their home in the last year. Speaking of which-

'Why take us to the choir room? Did you gas it or something?'

The man snorted and laughed, baring his yellow teeth. 'You wish you'd get off that easily.' He turned his back away, before Puck decided to try again. He'd noticed that Damien seemed reluctant to use the gun, almost as if he _needed _to keep him and Brittany at least alive. Like they had a purpose. He may aswell annoy him if this was the case.

'You didn't answer my qu-'

'So curious.' Puck and Brittany's heads quickly turned at the new voice, and even Mike's turned drearily, his eyelids drooping.

There was a small, muscular figure coming out of the shadows in the office, but as she came into the room, Puck saw in no surprise that she was masked, just like the others. She chuckled at him and Brittany's shocked faces. 'Don't look so confused, you'll be finding out answers soon enough.' Her voice was gravelly, but so clear it was almost hypnotic. 'In fact- Alison?'

Suddenly another masked woman came from the office aswell, taller and lithe this time. She came to stand next to the small woman, who was quite obviously the boss as she turned towards the two silent mind behind the four of them.

'I think it's time you moved these four into the office, the other two will be here soon.' She demanded as the two woman moved very quietly to the wall, invisible to anyone outside the door as she shut the lights off. Puck felt rough hands grab his shoulders as he saw Finn begin to stir, almost as if he'd sensed things were beginning to take action.

'What happened to your pair?' Damien asked the burly man quietly.

'Injected the asian with a little summin, and the other one got knocked out in the fight- he should be easy to get rid of, pretty damn weak!'

Puck suddenly heard hushed voices and quiet footsteps inside the choir room, and turned along with the other three to see two distinct figures gently making their way into the room. Seeing their awareness, the two men suddenly pressed the fingers in warning to their lips, before gently pressing the tip of the gun against Brittany and Mike's heads.

'One word from either of you.' He gestured to him and Finn as Brittany whimpered slightly, her eyes on the figures. 'And you're little friends die before they do.' He pointed to outside, where the two figures were getting gradually more into the light, the office not in their view.

It was then Puck realised who the two figures were, and his heart fell to his stomach.

* * *

'What do you think we'd be doing now, if this wasn't going on?' Quinn murmured absentmindedly, wanting to break the unnatural silence in the school halls, even if it meant making small talk with Santana. She'd expected the Latina to make some cutting remark back to her, but she shrugged from her position just behind her and shook her head slightly.

'It'd be Spanish. We'd...I dunno, I'd be helping Brittany seeing as I need no help, and you'd be giving Mr Schue your full attention as per usual.' She snorted slightly, and Quinn couldn't help but be relieved that old Santana hadn't _completely _gone in this mess.

There was a pause then, before Santana broke it again. 'Hey- what if they're not in here? I mean Puck, and Brittany-' Santana's voice cracked slightly, and she felt a surge of pity. It would be like losing Mercedes, but ten times worse for Santana. '-What if all this time we've been searching, they've been waiting outside for us to come out?'

'Well, for one thing, at least we know it was for a good cause. I don't know about you, but I don't know if I could live with myself for not even trying...even if we are leaving now.' She added quietly as an afterthought before continuing. 'And plus...Brittany would come back for you.'

Santana smiled slightly, taking comfort in her words as Quinn kept her back to her. She noticed the way she tensed up, and- she assumes her next actions are based on the fact that it could be one of her last chances to be kind to the blonde- actually tries to _console _her.

'Puck will have come back for you too, Q.'

Hey, at least she told her the truth.

Quinn let out a snort, and quietly chuckled, glancing at Santana sarcastically as they continued around their route out of the school, noticing they were getting nearer to the choir room as they did so. 'Puck? Risking his life for someone who won't give him sex unless she's drunk? Sure.'

'Believe it or not Q, and it really pains me to say this, Puck loves you.'

Quinn paused slightly before continuing, her throat closing up slightly. 'He can't, Beth's gone now.'

'That's what I told him. But apparently- and he may have been drunk, but I've known Puck for 8 years and he tells the truth mostly when he's drunk- it's not about the baby. According to _him, _he's loved you since before then, he just didn't realise it.' Santana resisted the urge to gag- while she didn't have her eye on Puck for _boyfriend _material anymore, it still made her bitter that he'd always choose Quinn. Along with a certain other boy..

Quinn remained speechless at that, as they continued their journe-

'What was that?' Santana breathed out, moving forwards to grab Quinn's arm as they stood outside the choir room, looking in carefully. The lights were dim, but as far as they could see no-one was in there. That still didn't explain the thud and the shadows Santana had heard and seen, though.

Or at least she thought she had.

'I'm sure it was nothing.' Quinn whispered warily, before Santana pulled her gently towards the choir room, beginning to open the door.

'Are you craz-'

'Sssh!'

The door opened with an eerie creak as they surveyed the room, half expecting someone with an axe to jump out on them any minute.

'San, let's g-'

Her sentence was left hanging when two things happened at once; Santana yelled out her name just as she felt a hand grab at her ponytail, yanking her to turn as the door slammed behind them and she was dragged into the room, the lights switching on suddenly.

Just out of the corner of her eye, she could see Santana being restrained by another figure, a taller woman than the strong one that had hold on Quinn. She grabbed at the woman's masked face, trying to block her vision as she struggled in her grip. Quinn felt adrenaline pump through her as she gave a sharp elbow into the ribs, causing her captor to growl as the grip refused to loosen. Instead, she lifted Quinn up ever so slightly.

'Get the hell OFF of me-'

Suddenly Santana lunged forward just as the other woman grabbed at her, sending the pair launching into Quinn and her woman as she fell to floor. Relieved to be free, she began to crawl on her elbows forward into the centre of the room near the office.

'Not so fast Fabray.' She felt a hand grip at her ankle, pulling her as she slid back against the floor, whimpering as she continued to crawl to no avail. She turned and began to kick with all her might, when she suddenly felt much larger hands lift her up into the air, before tossing her like a rag doll on the floor. The impact caused too much pain in Quinn's ankle for her to be able to escape, so she laid back against the chair, admitting defeat as Santana was tossed down next to her.

Suddenly she heard shouts and threats erupting as the office door was thrown open, and realised with shock that they were not alone.

* * *

_Cue dramatic, spine-tingling music. Hope you enjoyed that chapter, and I think I'll upload the next one sometime today. While I'm here, I may aswell vent my frustration at the writers- wait, no, writer. Ryan Murphy, what the heck are you playing at, basically destroying many of the characters? I swear every episode he writes makes me like a character less and less. Ian and Brad are brilliant at writing the characters and humanising them, but Ryan basically ignores all that- in Comeback, Quinn didn't seem to care about cheating like she did the last episode, and he basically ignored all her growth in the last series and made her the cheerleader she was in Preggers. Oh, and Finn. _

_So yeah. You could say I'm upset about all this! But enough venting. Hope you enjoyed, review!_


	11. Trapped

_So this chapter is shorter than the others, but seeing as this is the second I've uploaded today, I think that's allowed ;) It's a bit of a filler chapter, but I'll tell you one thing- next chapter is where you find out everything. So until then (hopefully I'll upload it tomorrow or Tuesday), enjoy and please please review!_

* * *

'Okay Miss...?'

'Berry.' Rachel finished for the police officer as they sat in the police van at a small table, Chief Walkens on the other side as the main investigator and another policewoman beside him, a tape recorder in her hand.

'Okay Miss Berry, Mandy here is going to be recording all the supposed evidence you claim to have, so you need to tell me every single little detail you know about what's going on inside the school.'

'Right.' Rachel took a deep breath- for others, this might have been intimidating, but she was so concerned and determined to get her friends out of the school that she had more fuel to her fire. 'I was on my way to class, minding my own business, when there was- there was some sort of commotion. I didn't see quite what happened, but by the time I turned, there was this masked man in front of a cupboard that I had just seen my two friends go into-'

Walkens hurriedly wrote stuff down, before demanding: 'Which two? What did the masked man look like, and where exactly was this in the school?'

As Rachel carried on with her story, suddenly coming to an end, she felt slightly flustered, as if there was one vital detail she was missing. There was a pause as Walkens looked seriously down at the table, before turning his firm gaze to Rachel.

'Miss Berry, as friends of these 6 students...do you know any connection they all have?'

* * *

Quinn and Santana looked up, panting to find Puck, Finn, Mike and Brittany being roughly pushed into the room, letting out a stream of abuse as they stared between the two cheerleaders in shock. The four adults stood in the middle of the room silently after one of the women locked the door, but for a few moments, the 6 students felt as if they were the only ones in the world, so relieved to finally see eachother again.

'Santana!' Brittany practically lunged towards a teary Santana and threw herself into waiting arms, sobbing as she clung on to her best friend. 'I'm so sorry, I tried- I tried to come fi-find you, but-'

'Ssh Brit, it's okay, I'm here now..'

Finn collapsed on the floor between Santana and Quinn, looking pale and feeling extremely nauseous as he clutched his side, half lying down. Mike kneeled next to him and Quinn awkwardly, rubbing Quinn's shoulder comfortingly as Puck sat close to her.

She stared at him, her shoulders drooping with the amount of relief she felt as she carefully took in his face. She only now realised how much she'd missed it, his face. He took her in for a moment, lingering on the cuts and bruises now formed along her form with anguish on his face. Puck had an urge to throw his arms around her, but he knew it was probably not advisable. Instead, he took her hand between his, pressing it to his lips as she leaned on him for support, tears spring to her eyes as he breathed in her scent.

_She was okay. They all were, at least for now._

'Wait-' Suddenly Quinn moved away from him, and he instinctively followed her as she crawled to Finn, hurriedly pressing a hand against his cheek as he gave her a weak smile.

Finn relaxed under Quinn's touch, closing his eyes as he swallowed. He felt sick to his stomach from the pain in his side, like somebody had ripped him in half.

'His breathings pretty shallow.' Mike murmured to Quinn, and her eyes swam with tears as she gently put a hand on Finn's hand that was on the latter's side, watching as he winced and groaned.

'Finn? Are you-'

'Okay, we can stop this little love fest now if you don't mind.' They all jumped, Quinn, Mike and Puck surrounding Finn and Santana and Brittany nearby, arms around eachother while the four captors stood in a line, surveying them all through their masks with loathing and triumphant eyes. The 6 immediately crowded together, before the small woman let out a harsh laugh. 'Stand up.'

They all immediately did so, and Santana decided to test the waters, noticing that the guns were all at their sides, untouched for now. 'Why do you want us? As in, _us?_' She gestured to them all with a shaking hand, and the large man and the small woman exchanged glances before the latter stepped forward, a hand on the top of her mask as the 6 watched nervously.

'Let's see if you remember me, first.'

She swiftly lifted the mask off her head before shaking the dyed red, choppy hair there. Revealed was a middle-aged tan face, with deep lines around her dark brown, almost black eyes that were narrowed at them. Her red-pencilled, thin lips were curved in a smirk, as her eyes landed on each of them, causing each one to shiver under her gaze.

All the faces remained blank, and her eyebrows raised in mock surprise, as if she'd expected it. 'No? Well, if I told you my name was Gail Reynolds, would you know my son?'

Something clicked in each of the hostage's minds as they vaguely registered the second name.

'Do any of you remember what you did to Jeremy Reynolds?'

* * *

_I think I'll warn you all now, while next chapter explains everything, it might be a little confusing as it contains past events that are AU. Just saying... hope you enjoyed, review! xo_


	12. All That I've Done

_Wow, I'm seriously nervous about posting this chapter, as this is where you finally find out why the group have been targeted, and I really don't want to disappoint all my readers! You'll notice that the past events included in those chapter are AU (Unless I'm pyschic and they actually happened in the show before the pilot, which i doubt O_o), and you might think it's a bit OOC, but it's all for the purpose of the story. More action is coming up in the next couple of last chapters. Hope you enjoy, PLEASE review as this is the one I'm most nervous about and it'd really help to know what you guys think and if there's anything I can improve on!_

__

Warnings: References to bullying and suicide.

* * *

'Miss Berry, as friends of these 6 students... do you know any connection they all have?'

Rachel frowned at the question, furrowing her brows. 'Umm...well- Santana is best friends with Brittany, and Santana is kind of enemies with Quinn, whose dated Finn and Puck, and both of them have been with Santana, and I think Mike's been with Brittany before- then again, I've been with Finn and Puck also, so it doesn't really-'

'Not those kind of connections, as interesting as they may be.' Walkens told her grimly, and she sat back, biting her lip at her rambling yet struggling to think of anything else. 'How about school wise? Any activities, classes they may have taken together...?'

'...Well I guess there's glee club. But- I'm in it with them, and so are around 4 or 5 other people and we haven't been- you know, so it doesn't make any sense.' Her argument fell flat, and Walkens sighed, looking disappointed. Rachel drooped in her chair, realising that apart from her earlier evidence, she wasn't much use.

'Well thank you, Miss Berry, you've been of great help. We'll do whatever we can to make sure your friends get out safe and well as soon as possible.'

Rachel took that as her cue to leave, and nodded at his reassurance, making her way to the door before something occurred to her and she turned, her hand on the door handle.

'Chief Walkens?'

'Yes?'

She hesitated before continuing, wondering if her next theory would sound nuts- 'Does...does their status in the school count? Like...they're the popular friendship circle in the school...would that have anything to do with it?'

* * *

'Do any of you remember what you did to Jeremy Reynolds?'

The four adults kept their eyes on the 6 as they turned to eachother, confusion etched on their tired faces. Only Finn, to everyone's surprise seemed to register the name.

'Wait..was he-' He cleared his throat, and continued even though every movement caused his side to become more painful. '-wasn't he the one that disappeared and never-'

'_Also on the news today, a 15 year old boy has gone missing in Lima Ohio-'_

'He never came back.' Quinn finished the sentence for him in a low voice. She'd remembered hearing her parents discuss it at the table in the middle of her freshman year, around Christmas time-

'_Poor boy.' Judy shook her head, not looking very sympathetic as she raised her eyebrows._

'_You can always tell, with these people, that they're gonna end up in squalor.' Russell told his wife and youngest daughter, gesturing his fork in the air as he chewed on roast potatoes. 'I mean 15 years old, and already trying to get some money outta a supposed disappearance. His parents probably put him up to it, you have to come from the right sorta background.'_

'_How do you know it's a scam, Ru-'_

'_Oh please Judy!' Russell shook his head, chuckling. 'You don't really buy the whole "Jeremy was just walking home from school after a normal day at school and hasn't been seen since" nonsense, do you? He'll be found alive and well before you know it, and sent straight to jail.'_

'But- what does that have to do with us?' Brittany asked tentatively, glancing at Santana. 'What- I mean, what happened to him?'

The 3 adults remained silent as the woman, Gail, scoffed and shook her head, looking livid as tears pooled in her small eyes. 'Jeremy was my son. A quiet boy, he always had been, but he had a good heart. He only had a couple of friends, that much I know- he didn't like to talk about school much. Tell me, do any of you remember him? Glasses, brown short hair and tall, quite skinny? Any of you?' She repeated harshly, and everyone turned to Quinn as she nodded her head slightly, looking scared.

'I knew him. He- he was in my Biology class.'

'I think I might have known him.' Mike swallowed, feigning confusion even though he suddenly remembered.

They all did.

'_Guys, I'm just trying to get home, can't we sto-'_

'_Get up scum, quit being such a baby!'_

'_Seriously. If you would just stay out of our way, we'd leave you alone.'_

'I did.'

'Me too.' Brittany nodded alongside Santana.

'Good.' Gail nodded, looking a tiny bit satisfied. 'Maybe you'll be a bit more sympathetic when I tell you my story then.

'He didn't talk about school, and I didn't press him. He was my only child, so I just assumed it was what Teens did, they kept details to themselves. It was only in the winter, around November that I started to realise I might be wrong.'

'He grew more distant from me, over the next month, ate less, got worse grades even though he'd always been a straight A student. I was a fool- a fool to think it was just a phase, he'd grow out of it and become Jeremy again, the bright, kind son of mine.'

The 6 of them listened with rapt attention, seeing where this was going.

'And then came December 16th. I remember standing at the stove, cooking dinner a little bit later than I usually would after I got a text from Jeremy, saying that he wouldn't be back at the normal time because he had somewhere to go- I assumed he meant a friend's house, or something. So there I was, the sky darkening as the phone rang. I picked it up, and guess what I heard?' Her voice broke slightly, and a tear fell down Quinn's face. Despite all the woman had done to her, Quinn was a mother too.

'The policeman told me that Jeremy had been found in the nearby woods, hung. It was immediately said to be suicide.' She finished, appalled as the group of 6 froze, too numb to move.

'I continued to live my life, but I never quite moved on.' Gail began to pace, her tears stalling as her face became stronger, more determined. 'How could I? My generous, handsome baby boy had found no reason to live on- and frankly I couldn't either. But last year, December 16th 2010, was the 1 year anniversary of Jeremy's passing, and remarkably, I uncovered a tape in Jeremy's room- I'd never quite found the courage to tidy it out. And I played it, and guess what I found?'

'Jeremy was on the tape, and I could tell from the clothes he was wearing, and his face that it was made exactly one year before the time I was sitting watching him. He told me all about his time at High School, saying how everyone hated him, how he didn't fit in and that the "people" couldn't do anything to him now he was leaving. Tease him, or bully him.'

Puck swallowed and briefly closed his eyes, resisting the urge to throw up. He had been so drunk- he had no idea that...

'_Hey, look, it's Reynolds!' Santana, in her cheery drunken state called out, as if he was an old friend of hers. Brittany, who was linked in her arm giggled, thought she didn't quite understand what was going on, having never encountered Jeremy being taunted before._

'_Hey Jerry!' Puck called out, removing an arm from Santana's shoulders as he stumbled towards Jeremy, who had paused warily._

'_It's Jeremy.' He corrected stiffly, his eyes loathing as he scanned the group of Puck, Santana, Brittany, Matt, Mike and finally Finn and Quinn. His eyes lingered on the last as she gave him a slight death glare. He gulped as Puck moved closer to him, frowning when he noticed his staring._

'_I don't know why you're drooling over her, Jerry, after what you did.'_

'_Wh-what did I do?' _

'_You know what you did.' Puck seethed, and Jeremy could smell the alcohol on his breath as the other laughed slightly behind him. 'You gave Jacob some little information about our Quinn, didn't you?'_

'_Fake information.' Quinn called over, still frowning at Jeremy. He noticed that she, unlike the others seemed relatively sober._

'_Right. Saying that she was probably a secret slut, or something like that?' Puck spat out the word slut, and Santana and Brittany hissed and tittered in the background._

'_Not cool, dude.' Finn glared at Jeremy, his arm protectively around his girlfriend._

'_Listen, P-Puck, I didn't mean what I said-'_

'_Then why'd you say it?' Mike called over dully._

'_I was out of line-'_

'_Damn straight!' Puck shouted out, shoving Jeremy against a brick wall as his eyes widened, Puck's face all that he could see as Santana, pulling Brittany, Mike, Matt and a reluctant Finn and Quinn hurried over, obviously eager to watch._

'_Listen, I just wanna-'_

_WHACK. A fist collided with Jeremy's stomach as he bent over double, the boys in the background cheering appreciatively as he fell onto the floor._

'_Is this really necessary-' Quinn began, her eyes on the boy's face as his glasses rolled off. _

'_He deserves it!'_

'_What you gonna do now, Reynolds, huh? Go run to your mom, or maybe even the principal?' Santana said in a baby voice, giving a pout as she giggled._

'_Look at him, can't even stand up!'_

'_Come on Reynolds, show us what you've got-' Matt aimed a small kick at Jeremy's shoulder, and the boy just laid there, giving up and waiting for it to stop as his whole body ached, just glad the other jocks like Karofsky weren't there- he knew from experience that they could do worse._

_Somewhere amongst the cat calls, shrieks of laughter and the jeering, Finn put his hands up, shouting out. 'Alright alright, I think he's learnt his lesson.'_

_Puck and the others paused, glancing at Finn and Quinn and shrugging, laughing again drunkenly as Jeremy continued to cower._

'_Let's go guys.'_

'_See you at school, Jeremy.' Santana told him in a syrupy sweet voice as the boys spat on him as they passed him._

'And funnily enough, he mentioned all of you, and the things you'd done to him.'

The room was filled with silence as the four adults raised their guns tauntingly, and Gail stepped backward, gesturing to them all. 'And I had a few helpers here. Simon.' She called out sharply, and the tallest man stepped forward, swiftly pulling off the black mask to reveal a strangely young, broody face as he narrowed his eyes at all of them. 'You won't know him, but he recently got out of prison for arson and assault. He'll come in handy.' Gail gave a devilish smile, and the group moved closer to eachother.

They each watched as the 2 others took their masks off- Damien was apparently Jeremy's uncle, which left the last woman. As soon as the mask was ripped off and she was introduced as Madison, Quinn and Santana warily leaned closer, shocked when they seemed to recognise her.

'Aren't you..' Quinn began before the woman cut her off harshly.

'Susan's mom? I'm surprised you remember me.'

'Wait, was Susan the one that-?' Mike stared at Santana, who nodded solemnly.

'Yes Chang, the one that these two cheerleaders took under their wing in sophomore year, only to frame her in a compromising situation and post it online. That friendship didn't last long, and my girl hasn't been the same since. Care to comment?'

Quinn began to say something, before shaking her head, tears filling her eyes as she suddenly felt sickeningly responsible for this whole situation. Poor Jeremy...it had been _her _that Puck had been defending that night, and that was what had started the whole process of teasing him. And now Susan? She barely remembered the girl. They were just two kids in high school, the type that didn't fit in, and her and her friends had picked up on it and continued with the supposedly harmless teasing. It had seemed so unimportant at the time.

But now it was everything.

'Get up.' Gail barked suddenly, loathing in her eyes. They all did as they were told, scrambling to their feet and clutching at one another; the boys stood protectively slightly in front of the girls.

'Now, how should we do this?' Madison raised an eyebrow, cocking the gun so it individually pointed at each one of them.

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_So..I hope I didn't let you down with that chapter. Please let me know in a review what you thought, this is the chapter I'm most nervous about! xo_


	13. My Conscience

_Don't be alarmed by the tiny chapter- it's just a filler, and I'll hopefully upload the next- final- one later this evening (Or afternoon for all Americans!). After that I'll most probably do an epilogue._

_Thank you for your reviews, I'm glad to see people understood and enjoyed last chapter's revelations =) Also I just want to clarify (again) that I'm trying my best to handle the subject sensitively, and I hope no one is offended by any references to bullying/suicide/hostages in this story. Thanks again, enjoy and please review! xo_

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'Now, how should we do this?' Gail raised an eyebrow, cocking the gun so it individually pointed at each one of them. She moved closer to Santana, who stood at the edge, and Brittany immediately latched herself onto her friend's arm, warily watching the gun.

'Maybe we could start with Miss Lopez? She, after all, was the second person Jeremy mentioned that began to push him over the edge.'

Santana stayed quiet, staring at the floor as her head throbbed with the guilt she felt.

'You know, you hear about these girls- the popular, head bitches in these high schools, and usually, _usually, _there's something good about them. They have some sort of good quality, something that can make the cruelness seem just a bit less than what it is. But _you-' _She spat out, and Santana flinched. 'Have _nothing._'

She stared at Santana for a bit before moving onto Brittany. 'And _you_- funnily enough, Jeremy didn't really have much to say about you. But after keeping an eye on you guys over the last couple of months- i told you we did our research- I figured losing you would be pretty hard for 'San'. She gave a mock pout, and Brittany looked down as Santana continued to shake.

She moved on past Mike and Finn, labelling them both cowards for staying with their friends and letting the bullying continue under their noses, before moving onto Quinn, who was sandwiched between Mike and Puck.

'Aww, little princess Quinnie. Ex preggo, I believe? How's little Fabray?'

'Leave her out of this.' Quinn whispered, venom in her voice.

'Fraid not, Quinnie. See the thing is, a lot of the bullying of Jeremy, a lot of the trouble that's been caused by you guys- all comes down to _you._ And then there's Puck.'

Gail stood in front of Puck, smirking. 'I'm not gonna even bother and let you live for too long. You don't deserve it. Plus-' She moved even closer, to whisper in his eye. '-No one will miss you.'

He swallowed, his heart dropping at that comment. He couldn't help but believe she was right.

'Now.' Gail stood back, standing up straight and looking at them all before pointing out her finger. 'Who goes first?'

They all braced themselves, gripping onto eachother's arms like they were lifelines.

'Eenie, meenie, minie..' Her pale finger landed on Finn, who winced both from the increasing pain in his chest and the gaze that was held over him. 'Mo. Look like it's you, sunshine.' Gail suddenly raised the gun, pulling it back until-

_BANG_

A split second before the shot went off, Santana had leapt past Brittany over to Finn, who didn't even have the energy to raise his hands in defence.

The girl who had been shot in the stomach fell to floor, clutching her stomach and looking up at her best friend in sheer shock.

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_One question: Which girl? You'll have to read the next chapter, that should be uploaded later today, to find out! Hope you enjoyed, review! _


	14. The Final Fight

_Okay, prepare yourself for a lot of action. It's very...fast paced this chapter, but I suppose you've all had the slow pace on the last couple. I still need to finish the epilogue, so at latest it'll be up in a couple of days. Enjoy and PLEASE PLEASE review! I really wanna know what you guys think =) _

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'Brittany!'

Brittany collapsed from her place in front of Santana and Finn, clutching her small stomach as her eyes widened at the amount of blood pooling through her fingers. Santana sat next to her as the others crouched too, yelping in shock as they stared between the unemotional Gail and the two cheerleaders.

Santana was beside herself as she held onto her friend's shoulders, half angry and half terrified as Brittany rapidly grew paler. 'Brit, why would you jump in front of me?' She demanded angrily.

'I wasn't gonna let you do that, San.' Brittany murmured, her voice higher than usual as Santana turned on Gail, gun still poised in the air.

'HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO BRITTANY? She'd- she'd _never _hurt anyone, she's too- she doesn't deserve-' It probably wasn't rise, growing hysterical in front of four people with guns, and while Puck tried to hold her back, she was beside herself, moving between shouting abuse at the four adults and calming down Brittany.

'Finn!' Quinn suddenly cried, staring at him as he staggered forward before falling to the ground, passing out immediately while Quinn attempted to rush forward before being held back by Puck as Mike stepped in to check on Finn, who was out cold.

'I dunno what's wrong with him, his pulse is shallow but-'

'ENOUGH!' Gail yelled out, making them all jump and suddenly grabbing Santana, who shrieked as she tried and failed to get rid of the woman's grasp and return to Brittany.

'I won't stall this any longer. I've waited 15 months to avenge my son's death, I'm _not_ gonna let this slip because a bunch of teenage misfits won't do as they're told!'

'Get-off-me!' Santana continued to struggle, and began to kick with all her might at Gail as the latter struggled to get her still enough to aim the gun properly. Just as she did though, Puck bounded into them out of nowhere and wrenched the gun out of her grip, sending it spiralling to the floor.

As Quinn took his place next to a thankfully still aware Brittany, Mike ran over to the gun, immediately picking it up before seeing Damien walking towards him, about to use his. Without pausing to think about what he was about to do, Mike pointed the gun at him and shot out, before dropping it to the floor as the man fell, dead.

'Oh my god. Oh god oh god oh god.'

Quinn moved forward as Mike stared at his hands and the dead man, obviously trying not to gag as he began to tremble even more than he had been.

'Mike-'

'God what did I just do?'

'Mike-'

'He was just coming at me, I didn't know what else to do-'

'Mike!' Puck suddenly yelled out, and there was another huge bang as another shot went off and Mike was thrown to the floor while Quinn and Brittany screamed, and Santana and Puck struggled with a gun-less Gail. Compared to him, the woman was tiny, but impossibly strong as she kept one of his arms in a vice grip.

Quinn didn't know where to go- 3 of her friends were already on the floor, _dying _and she and the other two had to try and keep it together for all of them. Taking one look at Finn, who was lying ignored on the other side of the room, and Brittany, who kept her fearful eyes on Santana as she grew paler, she crawled towards Mike, who blinked, panting and caught her eye before gripping her arm.

'G-go Quinn, go to Finn, Brittany and help Santana and Puck. They need yo-' He broke off then, spluttering and panting as he blinked rapidly.

Quinn nodded, squeezing his hand as she glanced at the wound, sickened at the blood beneath his hands. She got up shakily, hearing his croaky voice behind him as his head hit the floor.

'Be careful Q.'

Quinn quickly made her way over to Finn, checking that the captors were still distracted by Santana and Puck before crouching down, watching as his eyes fluttered slightly.

'Quinn..'

'Listen to me Finn, you don't get to die, okay?'

Finn kept his eyes on Quinn, who wiped her eyes angrily as tears filled her vision. 'I forbid you to die, Finn. Don't do that to me.' She gulped thickly as he nodded numbly, and she pressed her lips to his forehead, keeping them there as if doing so would give him more time before he fell unconscious again.

Santana suddenly felt her grip being loosened and wrenched herself free, wasting no time in running over to Brittany as she watched Madison being knocked out by a lunge at Quinn, Santana cradled her friend in her arms as the blonde's eyelids fluttered.

'Brit? Brittany, stay awake okay, don't go falling asleep, now-'

'I'm tired, San...' Brittany trailed off, and Santana slapped her cheek slightly, knowing that if her eyes closed she would struggle to wake her back up again. 'But can you do something for me?'

Santana nodded. 'Anything.' She croaked back.

'Tell my family that I love them, and Artie, and Kurt and Mercedes and Mike and Quinn and everybody. And make sure my room stays the same, even after I die.' Her voice faltered and one of Santana's tears fell onto her face, and she repressed her sobs.

'You're not gonna die, Brit, you hear me? We're gonna get you out of here, so just hang on okay?'

Brittany nodded, her voice thick before she looked at Santana, who seemed completely unaware of the fighting in the background as she clutched onto her friend. 'You're my best friend, San, I love you.'

'I love you too, Brit. So don't die on me, don't make me hate you.'

'Okay. Make sure my parents bury me in the dress I wore to sectionals or regionals, though. And tell Artie I want the magic comb, too. He'll know what I mean.' Her voice wavered, and Santana was about to reply when Mike's voice croaked out from behind her as he realised what was about to happen.

'Santana-'

Puck watched in horror as Gail, after flinging Quinn to the floor, chose to knock Santana out with the gun, and she fell limply to Brittany's side, lowering their numbers to 2 as he watched Brittany's eyelids flutter shut. Puck was driven with a new determination as he shoved the burly man, Simon to the floor and ran over to Quinn, helping her up as he held her, relishing in the moment. The two captors were seemingly panicked now, and appeared more intent on escaping then finishing them off. He took that as an advantage, and stared at Quinn, her clothes ripped and cuts on her face.

'You okay?' He panted out, and she shook her head, deciding it was best to be honest.

Puck nodded sympathetically, knowing she was referring to her emotional state rather than being injured. The moment was short lived when he glanced over her shoulder, and suddenly forced her behind him just as another shot went off.

'Puck-' Quinn gasped and gripped at his shoulder, fear taking her heart hostage as she realised with horror that her fingers came back coated with blood- his blood. She immediately felt someone pull at her ponytail, and shrieked as she was pulled away from Puck, him grunting when he got pulled into the grip of Simon.

Quinn struggled for a bit before she was shoved away by Gail, staggering and losing her footing as Gail approached her.

Quinn sat up slightly so that she was resting on her bruised elbows on the floor, looking up at Gail who loomed above her, gun cocked in her hand as she tilted her head to one side, a wound on her leg bleeding freely.

'You think you're really clever don't you? You and your friends, thinking you had a chance at winning.' She spat out, and Quinn began to shake. 'But guess what? You're _weaklings_. Then again-'She added as an afterthought. 'You've hurt so many people, even succeeding to driving one to _suicide_, why stop at us?'

Quinn stared at her with wide eyes, taking in every word she said as her heart thumped loudly in her chest, the gun pointed directly at it. She thought about how many people she had hurt, even if they had hurt her; Jeremy and his whole family, Susan, all the other students she'd teased and been cruel to, Rachel and the other glee clubbers, Finn, Puck, Santana, her parents, _Beth-_

She slowly turned her head to the side, and could see Finn lying on the ground, his pale cheek pressed against the floor as he laid there, motionless. She couldn't even tell if he was breathing.

She saw Mike not too far away from him, his breathing shallow as his eyelids fluttered, just on the brink of consciousness as he held his bloodied hand to the shot-wound on his torso.

She could see Santana and Brittany, sprawled next to eachother, both passed out after their determination to get them all out of this mess. They'd never seemed so selfless.

And finally Quinn's eyes landed on Puck, his face anguished and with blood pouring from his shoulder as Simon kept his grip on him, gun pointed threateningly to his head. His eyes pleaded with her, as if telling her to run. She wanted to mouth something to him, tell him how sorry she was. But she didn't. Instead she slowly turned her head back to where Gail was staring cruelly at her, and sighed, closing her eyes and swallowing before shrugging her shoulders in exhaustion. She was _tired _of everything. If the others didn't make it through this, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

It was a risk she wasn't willing to take.

'Shoot me then. You want me dead, right? Shoot me.' Quinn told her through gritted teeth as tears poured down her face and her whole body ached. Gail's eyes flickered with confusion though she held the gun tighter, fearing a distraction.

'You may aswell- you have me, lying here, on the floor, basically letting you kill me. You win.' Quinn almost smiled, watching as Gail's face fell. 'You win, you can kill me. I don't wanna get through this if the other's don't. I'd still have to live with myself.' Her voice fell into a whisper as a tear slid down her cheek. _So tired..._

'Quinn-' Puck called out warily, but she didn't turn and heard the man re-adjust the gun.

'Puck, don't do anything drastic, okay?' She called out, panicking and not really thinking about what she was saying. 'I love you, just, don't do anything.'

Gail still stood there, her face torn, but Quinn kept talking.

'Just shoot me already. You win.' She repeated firmly. 'You'll avenge Jeremy's death; you'll make my parents feel the same pain you feel. Just kill me already.' She shook her head, almost pleading.

Only the sound of Mike's panting, Puck's heavy breathing and Quinn's breaths filled the room as Gail took a step towards her, putting the gun in front of her so that it pointed directly at Quinn's chest. She was ready though. She felt so much guilt, self loathing and sadness for her friends that she wanted it to be over with. She didn't dare close her eyes as Gail brought the gun closer, and Quinn breathed in what she assumed would be her last breaths, thinking of her friends and her family, and people that had changed her life so much.

_I love you._

But suddenly the gun was restricted, and Gail leant down, yanking on Quinn's top so that she was forced to sit up slightly, Gail's breath in her ear.

'I'm gonna let you live, Fabray. But _only _because your life- any of your lives- aren't worth nearly as much as his. You still have to live with yourself after this. I don't wanna take that pain away by killing you. You deserve to live with this on your conscience.'

Suddenly the grip was relinquished, and Gail was swiftly moving out of the room, clicking her fingers at Simon who obediently followed her out, leaving Puck, obviously passed out, to drop to the floor with a thud.

As soon as the footsteps had disappeared down the hall, Quinn laid her head back carefully against the floor, gasping in air as tears burned her cheeks, and her heart thumped loudly, still alive.

She could feel herself shaking, before blackness decided to overtake her senses and she let it. Silence filled the room as she continued to lie there and footsteps came hurrying down the hall.

Her consciousness didn't even last until the SWAT team arrived.

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_Okay...so I'm worried it was all a bit _too _fast paced, but I hope I wrote it well. I have to say, I'm pleased with the ending of the chapter though. Let me know what you thought in a review, and any requests you have for the epiloque that I could include!_

_While I'm here, I might as well say that I LOVED last night's episode! It was one of the funniest episodes yet imo, and totally made up for the terrible episode before it. You _have _to love a drunken New Directions (Ft Blaine 'Warbler'). xo_


	15. Epilogue

_Sorry for the delay, but it's the epilogue, so I wanted to make it good! Hope it delivers. I want to thank all you amazing readers, especially those who left reviews, added it to their favourties or alerts! You all help me to keep writing, and I hope you'll check out my past/future stories. I'll take this opportunity to advertise the story I'm hoping to publish over the weekend- it's much more lighthearted than this, and about the adult lives of the gleeks! Hope you enjoy for the final time, thanks again, review! xo**

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HOSTAGE SITUATION AT OHIO HIGH SCHOOL ENDS

_At 12:35pm, a long 3 and a half hours after the first shot went off in William McKinley High School in Lima Ohio, a SWAT team of 7 men filtered into the school, locating the whereabouts of the supposed gunman and his hostages._

_However, after pending details arrived following a police report, it was discovered that the gunman was accompanied by another male and two other females, all sporting guns with one female being dubbed the 'Leader' of the whole organization. 6 students, all believed to have been targeted by the captors, were found in the school's choir room alongside and were quickly taken away for medical attention._

_While the identifications of the students are being kept under wraps, the police report also tells how all were 'horrendously injured' to some extent, one with a punctured lung, one female that had to be resuscitated after being shot in the side and several of the students with gunshot wounds._

_As for the captors of this horrible event, the two men were found dead, and the two women arrested, one in a struggle as she tried to escape the school grounds. More details on the hostage are pending._

'Pathetic! Just- seriously, they're treating us like we're some sort of zoo animals just to get the big bucks! It's an outrage, it's-'

'Sweetie, you need to calm down.' Mrs Lopez told her daughter soothingly as the girl slammed the newspaper down on her lap in the hospital bed, seething.

'How can I calm down? I haven't seen anyone since-'

'You saw Noah earlier, he gave the details you wanted, remember? Quinn's recovering from the trauma, his arm's almost as good as new, Finn's just come out of surgery, Mike-'

'-is unconscious but stable, and Brittany's due to wake up soon, I know mom.' Santana laid her head back on the pillow- this whole 'just to make sure you're restored to full health' hospital stay was driving her nuts. For the last two days, all she'd been able to think about was the shouting and screaming of _that day, _and her friends. She didn't even have the willpower to complain about the terrible hospital food they were basically force-feeding her. 'When can I go see her?' She murmured in a smaller voice.

Her mom sighed, looking sympathetic as she began to get up. 'I'll go see what the nurse says. Stay calm sweetie.' She planted a kiss on her head, and Santana relaxed slightly- she'd never take her family for granted again after that day.

When she had disappeared, Santana immediately sat up in bed, ignoring her throbbing head from where she'd been knocked out and swinging her legs over the side, stretching out her feet before getting up, heading to Brittany's room to sit there and wait for her to wake up.

If they thought she was 'waiting for permission', they were sadly mistaken.

* * *

'Thanks.' Rachel took her coffee from the shopkeeper, giving a wry smile as she yawned and made her way out into the corridors again. She'd gotten hardly any sleep over the past few days, not being able to concentrate on relaxing. Not when her friends had been in such terrible shape.

She'd watched as they'd come out of the school, one by one. Brittany first, the SWAT guy shouting out that she needed emergency paddles; then Finn- she'd almost blacked out with relief and then horror when she'd found out he needed a ventilator for his breathing; he was followed by Mike, Santana then Puck, all of whom were unconscious but just about stable; and then Quinn, who was conscious but barely so, staring into space with an emotionless expression, hardly looking at Sam or her mom as they tried to cut through police barriers to see her.

She'd listened to the doctors as they told her that Finn's ribs had been broken, and they'd punctured a lung; listened when he said that Quinn had been sedated for her trauma; when Puck had recovered from a shot to the shoulder; when Mike had just pulled through his surgery after a shot to the stomach; when Santana had recovered, and when Brittany had finally been resuscitated when they'd nearly given up hope. She'd comforted Sam, Mercedes and especially Artie as they waited with baited breath for their loved ones, and they did the same with her.

Rachel and the rest of the glee clubbers had visited each one of them, but only Puck had been awake at the time, and he mainly lingered by Quinn's bed, ignoring the tension in the air whenever Sam was there too. She noticed that Puck held the blonde's hand whenever her boyfriend wasn't there.

She only just realised she was passing Finn's room when she was shaken out of her reverie, and she stepped inside, carefully shutting the door as she stared in awe at the unconscious boy. It was heartbreaking to see him attached to all the machines, his face a ghostly white- but none of that was important, because he was _alive. _Every single breath he took she would now cherish, after coming so close to losing him. She hadn't been in the school that day, but she'd remember it forever.

Rachel sat down on the chair beside the bed- Carole had gone to pick up some of his stuff for when he woke up- and sighed, taking his hand and laying her head on the bed, closing her eyes.

The steady beating of his heart on the machine was a welcome lullaby to her.

* * *

It all felt like a distant memory, the shooting. To Quinn, anyway. She hadn't asked the others- as far as she'd heard and seen, no-one that had been in the choir room that day has discussed it afterward, apart from with police-officers that had been lurking around, trying to be sensitive but at the same time needing details of the terrible morning.

It might've been easier to talk about it with those she had been with, but she couldn't. It felt as if speaking it aloud would make it seem more real, more terrifying. And frankly, the terror and _guilt _she'd felt after they were rescued from the school was what made her have to be sedated in the first place.

There was suddenly a quiet tap on the door, and she looked up from her hospital bed to see Puck standing there, his arm in a sling and his face worn out and tired. She hadn't seen him since the first time that she'd woken up from her sedative-induced sleep, so it was a relief to be reminded that they were all still alive. Still breathing.

She kept getting flashbacks- the screams, the cries and the sounds of guns as well as the harsh memory of lying on the floor, begging for the woman to shoot her as a gun was pointed at her heart-

'Whoa whoa whoa, easy Q.' Puck had suddenly rushed to her bedside, alarmed by her distant expression and the suddenly rapid beeping heart-monitor. She nodded distractedly, hoisting herself higher on the pillows as she looked at him gratefully.

'Thanks. I just remember it all sometimes, that's all.' She murmured, and he nodded in understanding.

'I know the feeling. But we're okay now..' He said, almost to himself while he tried to reassure them both. 'It's over.'

Quinn paused before shaking her head. 'It's far from over, Puck. We still have to...' She trailed off, swallowing thickly as he looked at his feet, frowning slightly.

'Right...'

'How's Mike?' Quinn suddenly asked, more alert. She'd been trapped with him for most of that day, and she would never forget that. It was a bond that couldn't be broken now.

'He's better, I think he's awake now.'

'And the others? Brittany?'

'Also better- and she's due to wake up sometime tonight, according to her parents.'

As she laid back on the pillows, once again relieved, a thought occurred to him.

'Hey-' He knew it wasn't the best time to bring it up, but he'd been going over and over her words for the last two days as a distraction from all the pain of that fateful day. 'Do you- do you remember, something you said to me in...you know, when you were...'

Quinn paused, before nodding slowly, her brow furrowing in slight confusion as if she wasn't sure if she _should_ remember. 'I do..' She told him, a tiny hint of a sad smile playing on her features. She remembered the words very clearly, and while they seemed so unimportant compared to the pain that still remained from that day, they were a light at the end of the tunnel. A silver lining.

'_I love you.'_

* * *

'How long is this supposed to take?' Artie murmured anxiously, looking at Mr and Mrs Pierce before glancing at the rest of the glee club members and Mr Schue, who were all crowded around Brittany's bedside, waiting for her to wake. The doctors said that her body showed signs of awakening, and that they guessed sometime between 9 and 10pm. It was 9:43pm now, and they were all getting increasingly worried.

The arrangement of the group showed a lot of what had happened in the past few days- The few that had gotten out of the school were nearer the back (apart from Artie), not quite sure how to handle the situation. Tina lingered near to Mike, not having spoken to him too much since his awakening a few hours before hand. His parents had told him not to get up from his bed, but he had refused- he wanted to see for himself that Brittany was okay. He lingered close to Quinn, both of them feeling a slight pull towards eachother, having been so close the day of... that.

Quinn had told Sam she needed space after all of it, so she was stood near Puck and Finn too, who in turn was stood beside Rachel and Santana. The latter was as close to Brittany as she could get, watching her friend's peaceful face and willing her to open her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration. Artie was there too, absentmindedly brushing stray hairs off his girlfriend's face while her parents held her hands.

They waited with baited breath, before Artie jumped slightly, having felt a tiny movement of the Blonde's head as he leant closer.

'Brittany, sweetie, can you hear us?' Her mom croaked out, teary eyed as she gave a hesitant, hopeful smile.

'Mmm.' Brittany gave a small mumble, and Santana's face lit up as the rest of them began to breathe sighs of relief. 'Modaarsan..'

The parents watched her, confused before Rachel cleared her throat slightly.

'I think she's trying to say Mom, dad, Artie, Santana.' She offered, and Santana stared at her. 'I'm very good when it comes to making out people's words...broadway practice..' She murmured and trailed off as an explanation, leaning into Finn.

Suddenly Brittany's eyelids fluttered open, and they all leant forward.

'Hi.' She murmured slightly, a crooked smile coming onto her face as she took in the large group.

There was a collective sigh of relief around the room as they all looked at eachother, relieved and hesitant smiles breaking onto their faces- the expression felt so foreign to them all. As Artie, Santana and Mr and Mrs Pierce fussed over a gradually more alert Brittany, a certain group exchanged glances, giving hesitant smiles.

As Rachel went to get a doctor, Finn turned and put a comforting arm round Quinn, whose hand lingered close to Puck as she leant on Mike for support. Mike smiled slightly at her before nodding at Santana, who kept her eyes on Brittany after looking back at the group of them, relief written all over her face. Brittany stared up at the five of them, tears welling in her eyes before they rested on her parents and Artie.

They weren't perfect- not anymore, anyway. After that day they'd find that there was a strong connection formed between them all, a bond that would seem unbreakable as they all strived to help eachother through it. But they'd find peace...one day. They all had to hold onto the hope that they would.

But for now, it was Finn, Quinn, Puck, Santana, Mike and Brittany: Survivors.

* * *

_Thanks again for reading _Vengeance_, hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing. Add me to author alerts if you want to see more stories, please review and let me know what you thought! xo_


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